Page "George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen" Paragraph 5

The Earl of Aberdeen around 1850s.

Following the downfall of the Tory / Conservative minority government under Lord Derby in December 1852, Lord Aberdeen formed a new government from the coalition of Free Traders, Peelites and Whigs that had voted no confidence in the minority government.

Lord Aberdeen was able to put together a coalition government of these groups that held 53. 8 % of the seats of Parliament.

Thus Lord Aberdeen, a Peelite, became Prime Minister and headed a coalition ministry of Whigs and Peelites.

Although united on international trade issues and on questions of domestic reform, his cabinet which also contained Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell, who were certain to differ on questions of foreign policy.

One of the foreign policy issues on which Palmerston and Russell disagreed apparently was the type of relationship that England should have with France and especially France's ruler, Louis Bonaparte.

Louis Bonaparte was the nephew of the famous Napoleon Bonaparte, who had become dictator and then Emperor of France from 1804 until 1814.

Louis Bonaparte had been elected to a three-year term as President of the Second Republic of France on 20 December 1848.

The Constitution of the Second Republic limited the President to a single term in office.

Thus, Louis Bonaparte would be unable to succeed himself and after 20 December 1851 wold no longer be President.

Thus, on 2 December 1851, shortly before the end of his single three-year term in office was to expire, Louis Bonaparte staged a coup against the Second Republic in France, disbanded the elected Constituent Assembly, arrested some of the Republican leaders and declared himself Emperor Napoleon III of France.

This coup upset many democrats in England as well as in France.

Some English government officials felt that Louis Bonaparte was seeking foreign adventure in the spirit of his uncle — Napoleon I. Consequently, these officials felt that any close association with Louis Bonaparte would eventually lead Britain into another series of wars, like the wars with France and Napoleon dating from 1793 until 1815.

British relations with France had scarcely improved since 1815. As prime minister, the Earl of Aberdeen was one of these officials, who feared France and Louis Bonaparte.

However, other British government officials were beginning to worry more about the rising political dominance of the Russian Empire in eastern Europe and the corresponding decline of the Ottoman Empire.

Lord Palmerston, who at the time of Louis Bonaparte's 2 December 1851 coup was serving as the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the Whig government of Prime Minister Lord John Russell.

Without informing the rest of the cabinet or Queen Victoria, Palmerston had sent a private note to the French ambassador endorsing Louis Bonaparte's coup and congratulating Louis Bonaparte, himself, on the coup.

Queen Victoria and members of the Russell government demanded that Palmerston be dismissed as Foreign Minister.

John Russell requested Palmerston's resignation and Palmeston reluctantly provided it.

However, in February 1852, Palmerston took revenge on Russell by voting with the Conservatives in a " no confidence " vote against the Russell government.

This brought an end to the Russell Whig government and set the stage for a general election in July 1852 which eventually brought the Conservatives to power in a minority government under the Earl of Derby.

Another problem facing the Earl of Aberdeen in the formation of his new government in December 1852, was Lord Russell himself.

Lord Russell was the leader of the Whig Party, the largest group in the coalition government.

Consequently, Lord Aberdeen, was required to appoint Lord Russell as the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, which he had done on 29 December 1852.

However, Lord Russell sometimes liked to use this position to speak for the whole government, as if he were the prime minister.