Editing T. E. Lawrence (section)

===Fall of Damascus===
{{main|Capture of Damascus (1918)}}
[[File:With Lawrence in Arabia.jpg|thumb|upright|Lawrence in 1919]]

Lawrence was involved in the build-up to the capture of Damascus in the final weeks of the war, but he was not present at the city's formal surrender. He arrived several hours after the city had fallen, entering Damascus around 9&nbsp;am on 1 October 1918; the first to arrive was the [[10th Light Horse Regiment (Australia)|10th Light Horse Regiment]] led by Major A. C. N. "Harry" Olden, who accepted the formal surrender of the city from acting Governor Emir Said.{{sfn|Mack|1976|pp=166–168}}<ref>{{cite journal| author=Barker, A|year=1998 |title =The Allies Enter Damascus|journal= History Today| volume= 48}}</ref> Lawrence was instrumental in establishing a provisional Arab government under Faisal in newly liberated Damascus, which he had envisioned as the capital of an Arab state.{{sfn|Wilson|1989|p=647}} Faisal's rule as king, however, came to an abrupt end in 1920, after the [[battle of Maysaloun]] when the French Forces of [[Henri Gouraud (general)|General Henri Gouraud]] entered Damascus under the command of General [[Mariano Goybet]], destroying Lawrence's dream of an independent Arabia.<ref>Eliezer Tauber. The Formation of Modern Syria and Iraq. Frank Cass and Co. Ltd. Portland, Oregon. 1995.</ref>

During the closing years of the war, Lawrence sought to convince his superiors in the British government that Arab independence was in their interests, but he met with mixed success.{{sfn|Wilson|1989|p=598}} The secret Sykes–Picot Agreement between France and Britain contradicted the promises of independence that he had made to the Arabs and frustrated his work.<ref>{{cite video |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qgtjk/The_Legacy_of_Lawrence_of_Arabia_Episode_2/|title=The Legacy of Lawrence of Arabia|volume=2|people=Rory Stewart (presenter)|publisher=BBC|date=23 January 2010}}</ref>