Editing John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (section)

=== Fall of ministry and resignation ===
In France, the ambitious rather than able [[Napoleon III|Louis Napoleon]], the elected [[President of France]] provoked a [[1851 French coup d'état|self-coup d'état]] and overthrew the [[National Assembly of 1851|National Assembly]] and revised the [[French Constitution of 1848|Constitution of 1848]]. Both the Cabinet and the Court were alarmed by the incident and felt the need to declare "absolute neutrality" and instructions were given to the British ambassador [[Constantine Phipps, 1st Marquess of Normanby|Lord Normanby]].{{Sfn|Reid|1895|p=179}} By the time the official communication was made, Normanby was met with news that Palmerston had met with the French ambassador and declared the coup "a act of self-defence".{{Sfn|Reid|1895|p=180}} Russell forced Palmerston to resign as Foreign Secretary after Palmerston recognised [[Napoleon III]]'s coup of 2 December 1851 without first consulting the Queen or Cabinet.<ref>G. H. L. Le May, "The Ministerial Crisis of 1851." ''History Today'' (June 1951), Vol. 1 Issue 6, p52-58</ref> Palmerston was offered the position of [[Viceroy of Ireland]] but refused out of contempt.{{Sfn|Reid|1895|p=181}} Russell recognised that the dismissal of Palmerston have significantly weakened his government's position and the matter only grew dire after [[George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon|Lord Clarendon]] declined the position at the Foreign Office. Russell later appointed [[Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville|Lord Granville]] as Foreign Secretary.{{Sfn|Reid|1895|p=182}} Russell tried to strengthen his government by recruiting leading Peelites such as [[Sir James Graham, 2nd Baronet|Sir James Graham]] and [[Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle|the Duke of Newcastle]] to his administration, but they declined.{{sfn|Walpole|1889b|p=143}} Out of office, Palmerston sought revenge by turning a vote on a militia bill into a [[Motions of no confidence in the United Kingdom|vote of confidence]] in the Government. A majority vote in favour of an amendment proposed by Palmerston caused the downfall of Russell's ministry on 21 February 1852. This was Palmerston's famous "tit for tat with Johnny Russell."{{sfn|Prest|2009}} According to his brother-in-law, the [[George Elliot (Royal Navy officer, born 1784)|Hon. George Elliot]], Russell said following his resignation that "Its all fair. I dealt him a blow and he has given me one in return."{{Sfn|Reid|1895|p=195}}