The British Spy Who Divided the Muslim Ummah

the year is 1919. World War one has ended and the Ottoman Empire has lost swathes of its territory the leaders of America France Italy and Britain are in Paris to begin the process of deciding settlements and reparations following the armistice but also to decide the future of the Middle East this delegation has come to represent the Arab world this guy isn't Arab though this guy is British his name is Thomas Edward Lawrence but you may know him as he is more commonly referred to as Lawrence of Arabia today Lawrence enjoys an almost legendary status with biographies plays and even a historical drama film having been Dedicated To His World War One memoir he is commonly known as the British army officer who became a champion of Arab tribesmen helping them to overthrow their Turkish rulers but what is the real story behind Lawrence of Arabia it all begins with a series of letters exchanged during World War One between the Sharif of Mecca Hussein bin Ali and the British High Commissioner to Egypt Sir Henry McMahon the series of ten letters known as the McMan Hussein correspondence was exchanged between July 1915 and March 1916. in which the British promised the Sharif an independent Arab state after the war in exchange for him launching an Arab revolt against Britain's World War One enemy the Ottoman Empire despite disagreements in the letters about the future British and French influence in modern-day Syria and Iraq the Sharif was sufficiently convinced of British support and publicly proclaimed the revolt on the 1st of June 1916 in Mecca just a few days later the sharif's son Ali and Faison had attacked the holy city of Medina in an attempt to take it and its Railway Station from the twelve thousand strong ottoman Garrison stationed there but after three days of attacks ottoman troops under the command of fahradine Pasha chased the retreating Rebels away from the city the sharif's forces had more success in besieging the holy city of Mecca and the historic town of daif meanwhile British ships bombarded ottoman fortifications along port cities of the Red Sea and their aircrafts attacked ottoman troops disrupting their efforts to defeat the advancing Arab Rebels by the end of July the ports of Jeddah Arabic and yambu were in the hands of the Arab Revolt allowing the British to increase their supply of arms and equipment to the Arab forces in the hijaz this is where Lawrence of Arabia comes into the picture the British army dispatched a military mission to liaise between the Arab leadership and the British High command in Egypt Egypt by the way was occupied by British forces at the time from October 1916 Lieutenant T.E Lawrence alongside British artillery gave Arab forces the means to defeat the small Ottoman garrisons and The Siege at Makkah and dive Lawrence became an advisor to the sharif's son faisan but despite the early games largely taken with the help of the British Lawrence was underwhelmed by faisal's forces one company of Turks firmly entrenched in Open Country could have defied the entire Army of them and a pitched defeat would have ended the war by sheer horror moreover the Arab Revolt just didn't have the numbers of Fighters it needed to take on the ottoman forces despite the name the majority of Arabs did not support the Arab revolt across the Middle East the majority remained loyal to the Ottoman Empire rather than Arab nationalism while Britain had around 1 million troops fighting against the Ottomans the Arabs offered only around three and a half thousand unable to take the ottoman's head on Lawrence realized they needed another plan the Arab forces needed to attack the Ottomans line of Supply into Arabia the hijaz railway faisal's men spent most of 1917 attacking the railway small raiding parties blew up sections of the track and destroyed Bridges water towers and evens and weekly defended stations with plans to invade Palestine the British were Keen for the Arab Rebels to keep ottoman troops tied down the Revolt was in full swing but following British advancements into Palestine a secret document was leaked which revealed that just two years earlier while the British were promising Sharif Hussein bin Ali an independent Arab State they were also negotiating post-war zones of influence and Direct Control of Ottoman territories with France in the Sykes Pico agreement the British government had also published the Balfour Declaration which promised The Establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people despite tensions over these agreements Arab forces continued to attack the hijaz railway and assist the British while Arab leaders gambled that the reality on the ground at the end of the war would Trump any paper agreement for Lawrence Faisal and his forces the priority was now to reach Damascus before the British did Arab forces played a vital role in the final offensive of the Palestine campaign allowing British troops to advance swiftly through Palestine and Jordan an overrun what is now modern-day Lebanon and entering Syria to the east faisal's Army drove northwards in the race for Damascus they reached the city on the 1st of October 1918 to find Australian light Horsemen who served alongside the British entering from Another Side a month later the Ottoman Empire agreed an Armistice and the leaders of the Arab Revolt found themselves locked intense negotiations with their former allies over the future of the region but to no avail in the years to come the Middle East would indeed be partitioned up into zones under the influence and control of Britain and France the impact of which is still relevant today around 200 in Gaza have been killed so far including the populations terrified and Lawrence of Arabia would reveal the true story of the Arab Revolt the cabinet raised the Arabs to fight for us by definite Promises of self-government afterwards so I had to join the conspiracy and for my word was worth assured the men of their reward in our two years partnership Under Fire they grew accustomed to believing me and to think my government like myself sincere instead of being proud of what we did together I was continually and bitterly ashamed it was evident from the beginning that if we won the war these promises would be dead paper and had I been an honest advisor of the Arabs I would have advised them to go home and not risk their lives fighting for such stuff but I sowed myself with the hope that by Leading these Arabs madly in the final Victory I would establish them with arms in their hands in a position so short if not dominant that expediency would counsel the to the great Powers a fair settlement of their claims it was an immodest presumption I risked the fraud on my conviction that Arab help was necessary to our cheap and Speedy victory in the East and that better we win and break our word than lose the real story then behind Lawrence of Arabia was not one about the adventurous exploits of a British army officer in the Middle East but one of false promises deception and betrayal

Channel: IlmFeed

Views: 335,274

Keywords: islam, muslim, islamic, history, ottoman, ottoman empire, lawrence of arabia, arab revolt, islamic history, turkiye, turkey

Id: b3hYwi5THTM

Length: 8min 21sec (501 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 28 2023