* England was among the dominant European powers, driven by the desire to find subordinate elements to secure the line extending from Egypt to India. It was striving to secure this through the hands of the Ottoman sultans (through policies of repression and threatening blackmail), on the one hand, and by strengthening it with local elements, on the other.
* Sunni Islam, for Christian peoples, was a system of plunder and robbery since the Umayyad era. It did not allow them to live with dignity and pride. The eradication of Christianity was, for the Middle East, a horrific era, both culturally and in terms of wealth.
