If Europeans didn’t deem Taiping Tianguo as a cult, would they still help the Qing government to put it down? Although it was mostly the British helping to defeat the Long Furs.
British mercenaries. There was heated debate in Parliament as initially some Christian missionaries led the drive to support the Taiping Long Hairs, but once they found out more about what Taiping theology actually was, that initial enthusiasm curdled. The U.K. shifted to tepid support by allowing British mercenaries to serve under the Qing and actively defending British treaty ports.
Not just mercenaries. Real officers were sent to train and lead men into the fight.
