Original subtitles

- [Male Narrator] Our history is no more than a series

of incredible events.

Every one of us can influence its course.

(dramatic music)

The most infinitesimal of our decisions

can influence the future of humanity.

To know the past is to foresee the future.

The Arabic peninsula 1941, construction site

of the great pipeline Suleiman.

The Turkish overseers push their teams.

The Sultan has demanded that everything

be ready for inspection by the new ally

of the Ottoman empire, Nazi Germany.

25 years earlier, the violent repression

of the Arab Rebellion allowed the Ottoman powers

to maintain control over Arabia.

Since then, the discovering and exploitation

of vast oil fields has re-ignited the economy.

The Ottoman Empire is richer than ever.

In the middle of World War II

the strategic construction of an immense pipeline

will allow Germany to feed its war machine.

But none of this ever happened.

In 1917, a small grain of sand leads to the success

of the Arab Revolt and the storming of Damascus.

June 18th 1909, Thomas Edward Lawrence

leaves his native Great Britain

for an important journey to the Orient.

November 19, '17, in the Arab city of Deraa,

Captain Lawrence is captured

and tortured by Ottoman soldiers.

October 1st, 1918, Prince Faisal enters Damascus.

After 400 years, the holy city

is once again under Arab rule.

These three inextricably linked events are key moments

in the epic adventure of Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence,

also known as Lawrence of Arabia.

September 1908, Mont St. Michel.

After more then 3,500 kilometers,

young Thomas Edward Lawrence

is about to complete his bicycle tour of France.

Passionate about history and medieval forts

he is following in the footsteps of his childhood hero,

the celebrated Richard the Lionheart.

Lawrence has always been an atypical boy.

How many times has he sneaked out of the house

to go on nocturnal escapades.

For this dreamer and adventurer, nothing is worse

than the dreary rigor of traditional schooling,

yet he loves learning, but only the things that he likes

and in the way that he likes.

It is at Oxford University that life places

an exceptional personality on his path,

a reputed archeologist, polyglot, historian

and journalist, the great D.G.Hogarth.

Holding the status of professor in the prestigious

university, this intellectual is also a man of action.

In the shadows, Hogarth works

for the intelligence services of his majesty.

An ideal cover.

On the ground, who would suspect an archeologist

examining ancient stones, of espionage.

And what better position is there than that of a teacher

to discreetly recruit new talent.

Because the secret service constantly needs reliable,

motivated, intelligent, versatile men

with a gift for improvising.

Knowing how to handle a gun is clearly also an advantage.

In other words, the British Empire needs men like Lawrence.

Following the advice of the one who has become his mentor

the young Lawrence quickly learns some rudimentary Arabic

and leaves England to explore the Orient.

There, everything fascinates him.

He wants to see everything, visit everything

and touch everything.

He sets out alone on a long and difficult journey on foot

of more than 1,700 kilometers to cross the immense country

which extends from Constantinople

to the faraway deserts of Arabia, the Ottoman Empire.

Starting in the 15th century, the Ottoman Turks

have already conquered Anatolia

and laid the foundations of their empire.

Their expansion was overwhelming.

In 1453, they storm ancient Constantinople

and make it their new capital.

At its peak the Ottoman Empire spreads over

more than five million square kilometers,

from the Algerian mountains to the sands of Iraq,

from Hungary to the pyramids of Egypt.

Then, over time, the empire starts to decline.

Victim of military defeat and internal conflicts.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Ottoman power,

ruined, is weaker than ever.

In 1909, the Sultan is left with only symbolic power.

In Europe, the empire is regarded as a sick old man

and politicians already speculate about its lands.

The British Crown most notably, has every interest

to control all the lands surrounding the Suez Canal.

This strategic zone in the hands of the English

is situated in Egypt,

which was the Ottoman Empire at that time.

Under the pretext of a scientific mission,

England sends two archeologists to make topological surveys.

They can take advantage of it to complete the maps

of the region and anticipate eventual military operations.

Among them, one is named Lawrence.

- [Female Narrator] Welcome to the memory of humanity.

Every historical event, regardless of how small,

is recorded and connected.

You only need to change one to upset all the others.

Here, we are able to control time,

analyze and compare billions of events

in order to rewrite history in infinite ways.

For example, lets take a look

at the Ottoman Empire at its peak.

In the 16th century, the lands of the empire

are based on two continents, Asia and Europe, encompassing

a multitude of people and religious communities.

At the center, the Turks are natives of central Asia

and have progressively adopted Islam.

The Middle East is principally occupied by the Arabs

who speak a Semitic language which is totally different

from their neighbors, the Turks.

This is where Islam was born.

In the European part to the north, the Balkans

are both Muslims and Christians.

The populations mainly speak Latin and Slavic languages.

And yet, even with these differences, the empire

would last more than 600 years before disappearing.

This is a remarkable feat.

- [Male Narrator] December 1914.

Since summer, the nations of Europe

have been engaged in a fight to the death.

A total war.

A world war.

The first one.

At the same time, Lawrence arrives in Cairo, Egypt.

Thanks to Hogarth's connections,

he joins the military intelligence section.

Promoted to staff captain,

he is increasingly interested in local politics.

Lawrence learns one crucial thing, to weaken

the Ottoman powers, the small Arab powers

have to be federated

then placed under the authority of the Hashemite family.

For nine centuries, this prestigious Arab family

is the guardian of the holy places, Mecca and Medina.

Its leader, Sharif Hussein, is a descendant

of the prophet Mohammed, founder of Islam.

Vassal of Ottoman power, he controls and administers

the Hejaz region in the Arabian peninsula.

But secretly the Hashemites aspire to a great Arab nation

in which Hussein would be the Caliph.

For the Ottomans engaged in World War I

on the side of the Germans, the Arabian peninsula

becomes a veritable powder keg.

At the beginning of the hostilities,

the British open up a front in Egypt.

That is when news arrives to change the game.

Oil is delivered in the region of Basra.

To guarantee access to this resource,

the British government secretly negotiates

with its ally, France.

At the end of the conflict, the two European powers

will redraw the frontiers of the Middle East

then share control of it.

This highly confidential redistribution

takes on the names of the two diplomats

who led the negotiations, Sykes and Picot.

Kept secret, these agreements contradict the numerous

promises of independence that are made to the Hashemites.

Pragmatic, the English hedge their bets.

The same territories are promised multiple times.

However, Hussein and his sons

are still convinced of British support.

The Sharif publishes his proclamation of independence.

The birth of the Al-Thawra al-Arabiyya al-Kubra,

the Great Arab Revolution.

Once the revolt begins Lawrence is transferred to the Arab

bureau, a service formed to support the Arab cause.

His first mission, find within Hussein's ranks

someone capable of leading the Arab uprising.

In November 1916, he meets one of his sons, Prince Faisal.

Fascinated by this man who fights with ardor

but without means, Lawrence manages to convince

his superiors Prince Faisal is the man for the job.

The captain is then given a new mission,

become the military councilor of the Prince.

In January 1917, the Bedouin army of Faisal

begins its march, banners flying high.

Riding at his side, fully dressed as a Bedouin, is Lawrence.

- [Female Narrator] Know your weaknesses.

Captain Lawrence understands very quickly

that the Bedouins can not directly confront

the modern Ottoman army.

The nomads, under-equipped, lacking discipline,

unable to hold a line of fire, are unpredictable.

He knows that his army of volunteers is very susceptible

to loss and that it is necessary to preserve as many

of the already inferior number of troops as possible.

He develops a particular concept of warfare.

Faced with a traditional and well-equipped army

they have to respond with light, mobile troops

who have a great deal of autonomy.

Therefore lightning raids and sabotage

are much more effective than suicidal charges.

This tactic circumvents the weaknesses of the troops

and best utilizes their strengths.

The endurance of Arabian camels, solid knowledge

of the nomadic terrain and the complicity of the local

people who provide good information on the enemy.

This is the principle of guerrilla warfare.

- [Male Narrator] June 1917, Desert of Nafud.

Thanks to English gold, Lawrence manages

to rally Chief Auda's clan to the cause.

These precious reinforcements will be appreciated.

In a few days they will make a surprise attack

on the strategic port of Aqaba.

So while the English fleet is pounding on the port's

defenses, all facing the sea, a horde of Bedouin warriors

descend from the mountains where nobody was expecting them.

Before the end of the day,

Aqaba falls into the hands of the Arab rebels.

A shining victory for Lawrence.

His legend established, the Englishman

shares his life with the Bedouins.

He wears their clothes, sleeps under the stars

and endures their thirst.

On the front line, he is in every fight.

The English however, are more impressed

by his tactical results.

His guerrilla method is terribly effective.

He is promoted to major, given more weapons,

ammunition and explosives and sent back to the desert.

September 1917, Mudawwara water point.

To prevent attacks, the Ottomans have begun to shield

their trains, but even with these precautions

it won't put up much resistance

against the explosives that are put on the tracks.

Lawrence rapidly becomes an expert

in railroad demolition and at blowing up convoys.

From then on, the Arabs nickname him Prince Dynamite.

In October, at the demand of the British commander,

Lawrence and the rebels go behind the Ottoman lines

to create a diversion.

The mission is dangerous and several skirmishes go badly.

One evening, Lawrence decides to go

on a reconnaissance mission in Deraa.

The small group marches anonymously in the city

where the enemy supply passes.

That's when they cross an Ottoman patrol.

In spite of his Bedouin clothes, Lawrence's white skin

is noticed by one of the soldiers and he is assumed

to be a deserter from northern Turkey.

He is arrested immediately.

Imprisoned, he is subjected to violent interrogations,

lashes from a whip begin to rain down on him

as does the sexual abuse.

Lawrence resists, but he is beaten and immobilized.

He knows that if one English word escapes him

his torturers will unmask him immediately.

Then the torture ceases.

Lawrence is left on the floor, bleeding.

Dawn is breaking.

Lawrence, broken, gathers his last vestiges of strength

and manages to escape.

- [Female Narrator] We have arrived

at a point of divergence.

A point of divergence is a key moment,

a crossroads in our history where our world

can swing from one side to the other.

With his force and conviction, Lawrence is not the leader

of the rebellion but its catalyst.

The scattered armies reassemble and fight, side by side.

If he had betrayed himself under torture by speaking English

his fate would have been sealed.

The Ottomans would have had

one of the pillars of the Arab revolt.

The rebellion would have lost its unity

and perhaps even some of the English support.

So we can imagine a different outcome for the war.

The British, deprived of their precious Arab allies

would have only kept their initial position in Egypt.

By the end of the conflict in Europe,

the Ottoman armies would have been firmly established

throughout the Arabian peninsula.

Rid of the English and the French,

the Ottoman Empire would have survived World War I,

or at least until World War II.

- [Male Narrator] 1918.

In Europe, everything accelerates.

In the Orient, as well.

What was at the beginning just an improvised guerrilla war

is now an essential support for the British army

which is advancing faster than ever

in the Ottoman territory.

Lawrence, who has become lieutenant-colonel

increases the audacious raids.

Going up north, he blows up bridges and railroad tracks.

Everywhere the Ottomans are retreating

fleeing in front of the hoofs of the desert horseman

who are riding at full gallop to conquer their future.

Meanwhile thousands of Bedouins flock towards Damascus.

Others converge on Medina, the holy city.

There is a price put on the heads

of Lawrence and the Arab leaders.

But despite the promise of a huge reward,

no one betrays their legendary leaders.

September 19th, as the British launch a major offensive

Prince Faisal proclaims a general revolt.

There's panic in the Turkish army.

The war seems to be coming to an end on all fronts

and it was time.

On both sides, the massacres are multiplied,

fueled by the fire of vengeance.

Prince Faisal and Colonel Lawrence riding side by side

at the head of their nomadic army

move straight towards Damascus.

October 1st, 1918, the flag of the Arab Revolt

finally flies on the capital.

On the 30th, on their knees, the Ottoman Empire

concedes to its ultimate defeat.

- [Female Narrator] Revolt or revolution?

A revolt is a refusal to obey authority

and it manifest itself by an attempt

at insurrection or mutiny.

A revolution is a brisk reversal of a regime by force.

It involves profound political and social changes.

In 1789, confronted with a popular movement

of great magnitude, the King of France, Louis XVI,

does not measure the extent of this groundswell protest.

In his eyes, it's a simple revolt.

A few years later he is guillotined

and the kingdom of France, carried away by the turmoil

of the revolution become a republic.

The Arab Uprising in 1915, is technically a revolt.

The Arabs want to conquer the power

without changing the society.

For the Arab history books however, it is a revolution.

The difference in semantics might seem insignificant

but it completely changes the point of view

and scope of the event.

- [Male Narrator] November 11th, 1918.

The first world war is over,

but for the Hashemites, the stakes of the Arab Revolt

do not stop with the Ottoman Empire.

Hussein continues to fight for control of the peninsula

and the creation of a great Arab caliphate.

He is not alone.

Ibn Saud, Emir of Nejd, knows how to take advantage

of the chaos to launch a jihad and to enlarge the kingdom.

Carried by his religious conviction

he is a formidable adversary.

Especially since, in the meantime, Hussein has discovered

the existence of the Sykes-Picot agreement,

providing for the Ottoman dismemberment

to benefit England and France.

He knows that he can no longer count on the support

of the British, who were hiding their real intentions

and multiplying fake promises

and commitments that have no future.

Lawrence himself, has known

this heavy secret for a long time.

During his years of fighting in the desert

he was torn between his loyalty to the Crown

and his loyalty towards his new brothers in arms.

He never said a thing.

To ease his conscience, he did everything

for the rebellion to be victorious

and have the best cards in hand to negotiate.

In January 1919, the victors of the Great War are reunited

to redesign the map of Europe and the Middle East.

Lawrence accompanies Prince Faisal

as an interpreter and advisor.

The ultimate battle, a battle much more decisive

than all the ones fought under the sun of the Middle East.

It is in vain, the decision

was already made a long time ago.

Forgetting all promises,

the Sykes-Picot accords are ratified.

The Middle East will be British and French.

The coup de grace is given by France.

July 24th, 1920, a French contingent arrives in Damascus

to take possession, in accordance with the agreement.

Lawrence's old comrade in arms resist.

They are massacred.

The only comfort, Lawrence succeeds

in influencing the British decisions.

The government of Her Majesty offers Faisal

the Iraq throne in replacement of Damascus.

A Sunni leader at the head of a mostly Shiite state.

Disappointed, the Prince reproaches Lawrence

for having betrayed him

and for never really fighting for the Arab cause.

The archeologist turned warlord

falls into a profound depression.

To flee his increasingly invasive fame,

he takes refuge in anonymity.

He is soon no more than a shadow of his former self.

May 19th, 1935, he dies after a motorcycle accident.

He was 47 years old.

In 1924, Ibn Saud invades the kingdom of Hejaz.

Hussein is forced into an exile

from which he will never return.

In 1932, the year when we discovered new petroleum deposits,

the Arabic peninsula is almost entirely

under the control of Ibn Saud.

Later, this country will take the name of its founder

and become Saudi Arabia.

But that is another story.

- [Female Narrator] In 1926, Lawrence publishes his memoirs,

the Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

Within it, he describes most notably his actions

in the Middle East.

This work becomes the bedside book of Che Guevara,

Nelson Mandela and Winston Churchill.

We can ask ourselves which parts are true

and which parts are legend.

Who finally was Colonel Lawrence.

He described himself as a pawn on the vast chessboard

of imperial British policy, all things considered,

the summary of his actions is very mitigated.

Hussein during their last meeting, relegated him

to the rank of traitor and had him expelled.

For a number of military colleagues,

he was erratic and far from observing

the behavior that one expected of a British officer.

But one thing is certain, Lawrence became a legendary hero

and an adventurer with an unexpected path.

Highly respected by the Bedouins,

with an unlimited commitment he risked death

a thousand times in the heart of battle, from crossing

the terrible Nafud Desert to dynamite attacks on trains.

From his first night in the desert to epic rides.

It is undeniable that the lieutenant-colonel

has deservedly earned his nickname

Lawrence of Arabia.

(dramatic music)