The critically acclaimed movie “Lawrence of Arabia” directed by David Lean is about Thomas Edward Lawrence during World War One. Lawrence was born in England out of Wedlock in 1888. He was a diplomat, archeologist, and officer in the British military. He is best known for his efforts during the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans. He was put in charge of organizing the Arabs in the revolt. His time in the middle east was a clash between old and new. The old classical tribal warfare of the Arab people and the new innovations of tactics and technology of the British, Germans, and Ottomans. In the image you can see how the clash of old and new come to a conflict. The massive charge by T. E. and his men in to artillery. The clash between old and new is illustrated in the image above because of what Lawrence is wearing and doing, the tactics used in the picture, and the weapons being used against them in the picture.

T. E. Lawrence was put in charge of the Arabs to lead them tactically not to actually fight in the war. That being said he took part in most of all the fighting. He did not enjoy it though. This is represented by the look on his face. It is a very straight scowl like. He is almost bracing himself for impact. It looks like he is brave but is still worried about, not his own health but how this charge will impact the battle and therefore the campaign. Next he is wearing a British officer’s uniform with an Arabian robe over it. This is one of the most important symbols in the image above. The robe over the modern uniform shows how Lawrence is using the old ways to complement the new tactics of the British. It represents how he was accepted by the Arab people as one of their own somewhat in to the war. It also shows how he starts to accept them as his people. However, he is still wearing the British officer’s uniform under the Arab robes which means he knows that he is still a British solider and will obey the orders he receives from his higher ups. He has his sabre drawn and it is not a European style again it is Arabian. This shows again how he is accepting the Arab culture as his own and even some of the tactics. The sabre was most likely a gift from one of the higher up men in his command. Probably one of the Arab princes. Lastly he is not riding a horse as Europeans do. He is mounted on a Camel and charging. This is a very Arab way to fight in war. Most Europeans would not get on a camel to fight, they prefer horses. Lawrence’s willingness to fight on a camel represents how he is practically part of the Arab forces as just another one of them. Lawrence is the most important part of the picture because he best blends the two ideals of ways of life and war. He is the focal point of the image because of that reason. He is the prefect mixture of old and new, Arabian and European to push the Ottomans back enough and take the city of Damascus. 

        Another concept depicted in the image above is the tactics that Lawrence was using. The Arabs refused to fight in modern ways. They would not go into the trenches and defend positions. He wrote in his diary that “A man who fights well on his own often makes for a bad soldier.” This describes the men he was put in charge of down to a tee. On their own the Bedouin people are fierce warriors but using modern tactics they often refuse to fight or fail with them. So to account for this Lawrence started to incorporate Calvary charges and Guerilla tactics. They would destroy train tracks and telegraph stations. In the image above you can see one of the Calvary charges that Lawrence lead in his campaign. There are two long sections or columns behind Lawrence in the image. One to the left and one to the right of him. Some of the men ride camels like Lawrence then others ride horses. This distinction doesn’t matter for the Bedouin people. Arabs have ridden horses and camels for thousands of years. The type of animal that the soldier mount does not matter when they are Arabs it only matters for the European because it was so different for them. The rest of the Arab soldiers are armed similarly to Lawrence himself. The hold swords and guns and are following the solo white man into battle. They move across a wastelandsih  desert and dodge bullets and artillery, more on that later. The old versus new of these tactics are obvious. A tribal people charge a fortified position on horse and camel back with swords. While the enemy is shooting guns and mortars and even larger artillery at the advance. The Bedouin people seem to refuse to advance their tactics and technology because they do not want to lose their identity. They are fighting for a strong independent Arabian nation. So if they lose who they are in the fighting then why would it be worth it. The old versus new is very well illustrated by the image above because of the men behind Lawrence and what they are doing. 

The unseen enemy in the picture above are technologically more advanced then the men Lawrence leads. They have more men to fight against the Arab uprising. They use better tactics and if dug in properly would not be moved be the Arabs. In the image above the Arabs race across the desert while being pounded be artillery. There are craters all over the background and even an explosion from the actual shell. There is a fire off to the left of the screen which we would have assume that is a person or horse because if it wasn’t there would be anything to catch on fire. The craters on the desert floor are in a large area and look like there was a huge shelling. It looks mostly ineffective due to lack of bodies. The lack of bodies could also just be attributed to the design of the movie poster and the taboo of putting dead bodies on the poster. To the back right of the image in above the mountains you can see a plane flying. This again represents the enemy technological advantage over the charging troops. The planes historically put Lawrence men into disarray because of the obvious easiness to pick them off in the desert. Earlier on the planes would scatter the Arabs mid charge. Since the troops have not dispersed into the open desert one can make the inference that this battle is taking place towards the end of the campaign. The old calvary charge has not broken under the new innovations of the Turkish army. The old has lasted and is beating the new by simply lasting long enough to see the Turks lose ground. The bombardment of the Bedouin people seems to be largely ineffective and the charge continues. This is highly representative of the old ways triumphing over the new.  

The old ways of the of the Bedouin people contrast with the new ways of the European and Ottoman forces. T. E. Lawrence had to overcome the Bedouin inability to fight in conventional ways. The way that he adapts the tactics used by the Bedouin show that an inferior force can successfully fight against a modern army like the Turks. The Arabian fighting machine in the picture above is made up of mounted men with swords fighting against artillery and air planes. The mastery of Lawrence’s understanding of Bedouin society steams form his time as an archeologist. He studied their culture before he was put in charge of them. At first he didn’t think much of them then as he fought alongside of them he leaned how they worked. The Arab men were fierce warriors on their own but could only overcome the Turks when they worked as a unit. Together they started to gain ground and eventually took the city of Damascus from the ottoman empire. The Picture above is a movie poster of “Lawrence of Arabia”. It Is a film based upon the real life story of T. E. Lawrence. It is a fairly accurate representation of his time in what was the Ottoman empire. The clash of the highly traditional tribal culture of the Bedouin people versus an industrialized enemy, the Ottoman Turks, shows that with good leadership and an understanding of one’s own forces can result in a successful campaign against a vastly superior hostile force. The image above shows the brave men of the Arab Revolt charging against an unseen enemy army. The old ways versus the new ways and in this case with support from the British the old ways seem to triumph against the new.                           