Sinop and rumors of Reşid Pasha's peace negotiations, students began revolting in the streets of Istanbul forcing Reşid and many of his followers to hide for their lives. Reşid submitted his resignation immediately but it was not accepted. Reşid Pasha's rivalry with one of his prior proteges, Mehmed Emin Ali, came to fruition during this time period as well. It is believed that Mehmed Ali, who favored the war, had helped instigate the students. Reşid, with the help of Lord Stratford, had Mehmed deposed and even exiled to Kastamonu after it was discovered that he had held large sums of money from the Ottoman government. Over the Spring of 1854, Reşid used his position as Foreign Minister to coordinate Ottoman naval movements with France and Britain. He also was able to officially drag both Britain and France into the war with a military alliance in March 1854. In November of that year, he was rewarded with an appointment as Grand Vizier. However, in May 1855, only a few short months later he was removed from office, leaving him out of the rest of the war and the ensuing peace talks as well. Domestic affairs Edict of Gülhane Mustafa Reşid Pasha is credited with playing a leading role in the authorship of the decree that started the Tanzimat era. The Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane, known as the "Edict of Gülhane" or "Rose Garden Edict", was read in the rose garden of the Topkapi Palace among foreign diplomats and the sultan Abdulmecid. The edict was the result of the combination of several powerful circumstances. First, after the death of Sultan Mahmud II in 1838, his son Abdulmecid rose to the throne with completely different ideals from his father; unlike his father, who focused on creating a stronger and more powerful throne, Abdulmecid wanted to enact liberal reforms to bring the Ottoman Empire along the lines of other European monarchies. Secondly, up to this point Mustafa Reşid Pasha had been well versed in Orthodox Islam due to his apostleship to Pertev Pasha. Third, Reşid Pasha and many of the other Porte officials had been well versed in European political thought and institutions due to their extended connections as current and former ambassadors. In fact, on 11 August 1839, while still in London serving as ambassador, Mustafa Reşid Pasha sent a confidential memorandum to then British ambassador Lord Palmerston with whom he had a