Complex sentence: Russell's first government coincided with the Great Irish Famine of the late 1840s, and saw conflict with his headstrong Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, whose belligerence and support for continental revolution he found embarrassing.
Split into simpler sentences: Russell's first government coincided with the Great Irish Famine of the late 1840s. He fought with his headstrong Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, whose belligerence and support for continental revolution he found embarrassing.