At the height of World War I, British military intelligence was active in the Middle East, working to ensure that Great Britain (along with its ally France) would be able to maintain economic and military hegemony in the region after the end of the war.  In the Middle East, The Ottoman Empire had grown vast and become unmanageable, with revolts and unrest upending the Empire from the Balkans to the Mediterranean. Other Western European powers including Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia were competing with Britain for a strong colonial presence across the region.  And by 1916 Great Britain had sealed its alliance with France, signing the Sykes-Picot agreement in secret, to create two spheres of influence allowing the countries to share dominance in the region after the war. 

It was against this backdrop of war, espionage, and secret agreements that British military intelligence played a vital role in shaping the outcome of local and regional battles for control of areas of strategic and economic importance.  And one man today stands as an archetype for British maneuvering in World War I in the Middle East – T.K. Lawrence, known worldwide as Sir Lawrence of Arabia.  Immortalized in the films Lawrence of Arabia, directed by David Lean in 1962 and played by Peter O’Toole, and A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, directed by Christopher Menaul in 1992 and played by Ralph Fiennes, this enigmatic and clever agent receives a superb treatment that both places him at the center of historical events of the time and offers keen insight into his motives and actions in his efforts to aid his Arab friends.

By the time T.K. Lawrence began operating in the Middle East, “the Eastern Question,” as it was called, had once again taken center stage across Europe.  Vast amounts of wealth in the form of trade, natural resources, and knowledge travelled from East to West through the Middle East, on to India and China, as it had for centuries, and coming out of the war an area of vital importance to this wealth-producing region was the area of the Ottoman Empire known today as Syria, at the confluence of trade between Palestine and Egypt to the south, and the northern and western powers.  It was here that Lawrence of Arabia would acquire his kingly title, as he began ingratiating himself with local warlords, and where the acclaimed film Lawrence of Arabia picks up the story of this educated archaeologist and anthropologist.  One local warlord in particular, Arabian sheik Feisal al Husayn, who commanded armies in conflict with the Ottoman Empire and aspired to rule the Syrian region in the grand tradition of Muslim rulers of the area since the eighth century, became a close ally with Lawrence.  Having formed an amazingly fast friendship, the two embarked on a guerilla war, even seizing the port of Aqaba in Jordan, and constantly keeping the Turkish armies busy as British forces moved into the Syrian and Palestinian regions.  His renown among area tribal leaders and warriors is the result of his support for their cause to govern themselves independently of the sprawling and ineffective Ottoman Empire and is matched in the West for the tales of his epic bravery and daring in guerilla attacks and even the destruction of enemy railroad cars.

The film Lawrence of Arabia has been acknowledged as one of the finest films ever produced.  Indeed, its stunning cinematography, the essence of T.K. Lawrence captured by O’Toole, the exquisitely designed sets, scenes, and special effects combine to create an epic detailing an adventure fit for such an enigmatic figure as Lawrence.  Real-life influencers such as Sherif Ali, played by Omar Sharif, who was the father of Feisal and instrumental in resisting European rule, and invented characters such as Colonel Brighton, played by Anthony Quayle, who is constantly criticizing the Arab armies and their methods, serve to add context to the narrative of Lawrence, whose memoirs are the basis for the film’s script.  The British decision makers are portrayed, stereotypically, as acting superior to Arab counterparts, and some liberty was taken to portray Lawrence and Feisal’s armies as particularly heroic, embellishing and elaborating on a dramatic historical event.

At the end of the war (now Emir) Feisal of the Hejaz is invited to the Paris Peace Conference, where he argues with Lawrence for Arab independence and rule of Syria, as carefully depicted in the made-for-television film A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia.  The Ottoman Empire is broken up and under a new mandate system, European powers have begun carving up the Middle East into nation-states, all under the cloud of the secretive Sykes-Picot Agreement.  In repeated testimony before the tribunal the two argue for independence, and in fact Feisal had already established a semblance of a government in Syria with the support of the Hejaz tribe that lived in the region.  On display is the intimate relationship between Feisal and Lawrence, complicated by promises that he had made during the resistance efforts but that but upon which the British negotiators could not deliver.  Sir Lawrence, at one point in the film, is forced to level with his good friend as they realize their endeavor is unlikely to succeed, and tells Feisal bluntly, “it’s all about the oil.”  As expected, the mandate for Syria went to France, and Feisal’s hopes of an independent Arab Syrian state were not realized.  French troops occupied Syria until the mandate expired in 1943.  The tension surrounding the strained but intimate friendship and the intransigence of French negotiators is captured in the film to reflect the autocratic way “the Middle Eastern Question” was treated at Versailles during the Paris Peace Conference.

Interestingly, the attention to detailed sets so famous in Lawrence of Arabia is a feature of A Dangerous Man, carrying over the soft hue cast over the broad landscapes into the tight confines of the parliamentary buildings, where excellent period acting is on display lending context to the hurried backdrop of negotiations among victorious power brokers at the end of World War I.  Ralph Fiennes adopts O’Toole’s calm, erudite mannerisms and evinces the same confidence, intellectual acumen, and sharp wit immortalized by O’Toole and displayed by T.K. himself.  Picking right up where it left off, the relationship between Feisal and Lawrence, both personally and as warriors and champions for the Arab people matures, is on display, complete with disagreements and the airing of past grievances.  One could even say that A Dangerous Man is nearly like a sequel to Lawrence of Arabia, and the years-long story of events that both films tell, together, combine to educate, and cause viewers to reflect on, the events in the Middle East during World War I in a setting that feels authentic and is true to the actual historical narrative as recounted by the participants.

During a time of momentous change and upheaval for Arab peoples, Lawrence of Arabia stood as a hero in both helping them militarily and in defending against Western European designs on the post-World War I Middle East.  At one point in Lawrence of Arabia, Lawrence tells his commanding officer “I'm going to give them Damascus.  We'll get there before you do and when we've got it, we'll keep it.  You can tell the politicians they can burn their bit of papers now,” and perfectly captures his stern intention to keep his word to his Arab allies, fighting for independence alongside them as an honorable, steady, and powerfully brilliant friend in an all-too uncertain world.

Bibliography

A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia.  Directed by Christopher Menaul. Anglia Films. 1992. 

Lawrence of Arabia.  Directed by David Lean. Columbia Pictures. 1962.