Lawrence of Arabia, whats the importance of Damascus

Question

May I know in the move Lawrence of Arabia, (not sure how many of you seen it), why their focus shifted from Arab to Damascus, after Sykes-Pico Agreement. What is in Damascus that got their attention? Was there a plot to take Jerusalem? But most importantly why?

Answer 1

He was to help the British & Arabs stop the Turks taking Damascus as the Ottoman Empire (Turks) had controlled the Palestine area for hundreds of years.The British & French wanted the area mainly as a strategic area in case of war,but also for the rich minerals and deposits that were in the region - Oil. The fight of the territory against the Turks was put across as a smoke screen for the masses but in reality it was seen as a financial gain for the allies in the region,mainly oil but also the Suez canal which was a route through the middle east that would cut time,costs to the Indian Ocean. They really needed to secure this place for safe ,transportable trading later on .

Lawrence was to help the Arabs under the disguise of  emancipating their lands from the Turks,but later realised that he was being used by the British as a pawn in the deal

Answer 2

The movie is not historically incorrect in many aspects but this is normal..

Lawrence was an officer in the British army during WW1 and his job was to unite the arab tribes of Arabia, who often hated each other and form them into a fighting force to help the British defeat the Turks.

He did this very effectively and towards the end of the war the arab army formed the right wing of the British advance.

Jerusalem was always going to be captured by British forces as it was in their sector of the front so the largest city for the arabs to capture was Damascus which was the centre for the Turkish administration of the whole region

The Sykes/Picot Agreement was nothing to do with Lawrence and he felt that the Arabs had been betrayed by it which is why he refused to accept any medals or political honors for his exploits during the war.