The Real Lawrence of Arabia

Lawrence of Arabia has been a household name in the West, right up there with Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and perhaps even Peter O’Toole. In the late 20th century this was largely due to the latters portrayal of Lawrence in the 1962 film. This romantic portrayal shows Lawrence dressed as a bedouin dashing around on horseback showing the evil Germans and Turks who’s boss. However, the fame and romanticism surrounding T.E. Lawrence and the Arab revolt of WWI is due to an even earlier spread of propaganda.

In reality, Lawrence was a bastard son of an Irish aristocrat who ran off with his legitimate children’s nanny. He was definitely brilliant–earning an honors degree from Oxford–however, in some ways he was never truly accepted by his professional peers due to his social status. Lawrence first entered the field of archaeology with the help of a mentor at Oxford, David G. Hogarth. At a dig at the ancient Mesopotamian city of Carcemish he allegedly met and befriended Gertrude Bell before the war. In his letters to colleagues he described her as a brilliant if not badtempered archaeologist whom he and Hogarth were able to win over to their method of archeaology. Yet, in letters to family he described her offhandedly as ugly with a sour disposition. This multi-personality reaction colored the rest of Lawrence’s career who was always fairly interested in self-aggrandizement in a world which didn’t take him seriously.

Hogarth got Lawrence a job at the Arab Bureau during WWI and with his experience in Arab language and culture Lawrence become one of a group of British officers within the bureau working directly with Arab leaders. From there, Lawrence began to work directly with the Arab revolt, particularly working closely with Hussain’s son, Faisal, eventually advocating for his Kingship in Syria and then Iraq. However, in different published writings Lawrence says different things about his involvement with the Arab revolt. His official reports to his superiors seem to be the most honest. However, his published articles for the “Arab Bulletin” were often used to convince colleagues of his opinions, specifically the efficacy of the Arab revolt and the choice of Faisal as leader, both views that remained controversial within the Arab Bureau throughout the war.

Another source of Lawrence propaganda was his Seven Pillars of Wisdom, a biographical account of the Arab Revolt, and a series on the revolt published by American journalist Lowell Thomas. Both evince a highly romanticized portrait of the revolt and Lawrence’s involvement in it. Three strategies of propaganda appear: first, Lawrence’s overstating of his influence in the choosing of Faisal as leader as well as his influence on Faisal, second, the effort to reduce the French role in the revolt. In fact, Lawrence could even be described as ‘Francophobic’ in his description of the French military invasion of Hijaz during the War. Third, there was a general effort to enhance Lawrence’s military role which was “irregular” in order to make him stand out amongst a group of “regulars” who were involved with the revolt. Lawrence, after all, was just one irregular officer amongst a group of officers working with the Arabs during the War, yet these writings make him appear as a “defacto commander” of the Arab revolt.

Another myth to dispell is that of Lawrence being a pseudo-Arab. Certainly he lived amongst bedouin for a few years and was truly fascinated by Middle Eastern culture. According to Gertrude Bells letters her and Lawrence were two peas in a pod in their comfort with and attraction to Middle Eastern culture. One could even imagine that as an unmarried spinster and an illegitimate son, Bell and Lawrence could gain a certain amount of significance in Middle Eastern societies that they couldn’t get back in Britain. In fact, Bell describes her role in Mesopotamia as being a “Person” while in Britain she received no such distinctions. However, this attitude is different than empathy or understanding. They were still foreigners. Foreigners who espoused British supremacy and for all their learning still misunderstood aspects of Arab culture. This coupling of romanticism and racism, understanding and mystery defines British involvement in the Middle East. Lawrence is no exception to this contradiction. Like other British Arab intelligence officers Lawrence espoused the bombing campaign in Iraq in the aftermath of the War. He advocated that Oriental culture did not care about women and children casualties and thus random bombings of villages would be a good policy. Although he later rescinded his support of the bombing campaign in the early 1930s the fact remains that Lawrence misinterpreted Arab society as Westerners often do, looking at tribal warfare as some part of an Arab identity which did not care about deaths. Obviously they did care, otherwise the revolt would not have continued for so long.

Thus, Lawrence appears as a brilliant, yet morally ambiguous young man. An expert at navigating the hierarchy of British society and torn between loving and hating Arabia. Hardly the leader of the Arab revolt now everybody looks at him as the catalyst of this event. The power of media and propaganda is shown in this tale. How media can turn a lower level “irregular” officer who was most interested in climbing the ranks and obtaining British wartime objectives into the leader of a revolt and an advocate for Arab interest.

Sources:

Tarver, Linda J. “In Wisdom’s House: T.E. Lawrence in the Near East.” Journal of Contemporary History Vol. 13 (1978), 585-608.

Satia, Priya. “The Defense of Inhumanity: Air Control and the British Idea of Arabia.” The American Historial Review Vol 111, Issue 1.