True British Colonial

Instructions

This song and picture is of the legendary Lawrance of Arabia. He was a British Army Officer who left his comfortable life in Egypt to go and fight for Arabic freedom from the Ottomans, who had oppressed them for centuries. His campaigns with Arab support contributed heavily to the destruction of the Ottoman Empire, weakening them from behind the line, which doesn't seem important until you realize you need guns and food to fight a war, and without a supply-route, you run out very quickly. For a large portion of his life, he greatly admired the Arabs and Islam. So, in 1915, he volunteered to go into Arabia and lead a rebellion. He had two goals, to liberate the Arabs and to help his homeland (Britain) by weakening the Ottomans, who were a massive pest for the British. He helped to unite the tribes in Arabia, and in turn, they followed him into death. He would appear far behind the lines, attack important Ottoman supply-lines and such, before rapidly vanishing again. During his time in Arabia, the Arabs would tell him of how the Ottomans had massacred men, women and children indiscriminately and mutilated survivors. After discovering this, he swore not to exact revenge for the Arabs. In many especially bloody engagements, he cut down every single Ottoman soldier without mercy, even as they tried to surrender. After all, they had done much worse to the Arabs. He personally also experienced abuse from the Ottomans, he had been sexually assaulted and tortured by a Turkish Governor. The Ottomans greatly feared him, as at any moment, he could appear in their camp and slaughter them all. He deeply cared for the Arabs, as mentioned before. He respected their culture, spoke Arabic, wore what they wore, etc. While much of Britain now is Islamophobic, he loved them. Which is why the next part is extremely upsetting. In 1916, after he had rallied the Arab tribes behind the promise of freedom and unity, he got a telegraph. Britain and France had signed a secret treaty, and all his efforts for a free Arabia would be in vain. Instead of giving up, he kept this information from the Arabs, which would haunt him for the rest of his life. The sheer guilt of this was traumatic for him, and he was very honourable about it later in his life. In 1917, the Russians would leak the Sykes-Picot Agreement. Despite being betrayed, the Arabs still respected him. Him and the Arab leaders with him agreed to continue fighting the Ottomans until the end, hoping the British and French would change their mind. In 1918, him and his Arab allies would liberate many key cities. In Damascus, he was cheered on as a hero by the locals, despite him believing he had betrayed them. After liberating the Arab world, he personally went during the negotiations for the Treaty of Sèvres, and did his best to keep Arabia free. He fought long and hard to try and get the British and France to leave Arabia's lands to the Arabs, but it was no use. After fighting harder than his Arabic counterparts, who joined him here as well, and who had already given up hope, he eventually gave up as well. He hated himself for most of his life because of how he felt he betrayed the Arabs. King George the Fifth attempted to personally knight Lawrence for his extreme bravery and impressive service record, though Lawrence turned it down. He would not accept being hailed as a hero until the British gave up Arabia. He would serve in the British military for most of his life, retiring right before World War Two. He would die without ever seeing his dreams for a liberated Arabia realized, even long before saying Arabia be de-colonized. He died believing he was a horrible person, which is tragic, given the Arabs at the time loved him, and even now, from what I can tell, Arabs view him in a positive light (Though not as a hero like he is viewed in most of the world). Most British Colonials served themselves. They used the name of Britain in order to abuse natives and enrich themselves. Lawrence is the kind of man that British Colonials should have been like, instead of like Debeers. Even today, the former colonies serve Britain. They risk and sacrifice so much to keep Britain alive. In the Napoleonic Wars and in both World Wars, the colonies willingly sacrificed so much just to keep Britain free. That is a debt Britain is yet to pay up on.