Who is T.E. Lawrence? What was his impact during World War I?
1 Answer
T.E. Lawrence, AKA Lawrence of Arabia.
Explanation:
T.E. Lawrence, or his rather awesome nickname: Lawrence of Arabia, was a British military officer, best known for helping the revolt against the Ottoman Empire.
Hussein bin Ali, a sherif in Mecca, wanted to break away from the Ottomans, who had a strong grip on the entire Middle Eastern region. Therefore, he enlisted Lawrence to assist him in his efforts, as Ali wanted to create a unified Arab state.
So, from 1916-1918 Lawrence along with his band of rebels, staged attacks against the Ottomans. These attacks were mainly militaristic in question. They attacks railroads, outposts, bridges, retreating Ottoman forces, certain towns/regions, etc. The big win for Lawrence is the capture of Damascus, in which Lawrence was personally present for the surrender.
His impact was that he staged uprisings against a very formidable enemy. His methods of attacking were idolized, practiced, copied, and written about. He became a pop culture icon of sorts in the following decades. Especially with the release of the 1962 hit "Lawrence of Arabia."
Side note- A lot of my friends in high school came to me a few months ago, full of questions about Lawrence of Arabia. I came to find out that they saw him in the Battlefield 1 video game. I guess they're learning history, which is good.
