The unity achieved by the revolutionaries in 1905 was a higher degree of unity than the ten-year-old movement had previously reached. Much of its cement was supplied by ideology, but this is only to say that in the realm of ideas the revolutionaries were somewhat less divided than they were otherwise. There was no widely accepted doctrine in the republican revolutionary movement. The widening area of consensus and the sharpening points of ideological conflict help us to understand the character of the republican revolutionary movement and its place in China's modern history. The widening consensus embraced many so-called 'reformers' as well as revolutionaries. The main outlines of revolutionary ideology were provided by Sun Yatsen. Supporters such as Hu Han-min, a leading People's Report writer, defended Sun's ideas, and the Revolutionary Alliance openly appealed for foreign help. The revolutionaries had always insisted that the Ch'ing reforms were designed only to strengthen the dynasty; now they had fresh ammunition and new targets.