威灵顿公爵

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Wellington, Duke of,原名Arthur Wellesley。

英国将领。爱尔兰莫宁顿伯爵之子,1787年进入陆军,1790~1797年在爱尔兰议会服务。1796年奉派至印度,他在马拉塔战争(1803)中领军获胜。回到英国後,他服务於英国下议院,1807~1809年担任爱尔兰秘书长。他在半岛战争中指挥英国军队,在葡萄牙西班牙战胜法国,并入侵法国,而在1814年赢得战争的胜利,为此他被提升为陆军元帅,并晋封为公爵。在拿破仑对欧洲强权重启战端後,这位「铁公爵」指挥联军在滑铁卢战役(1815)获胜。受到英国和外国君主丰厚的报酬,他成为欧洲最尊荣的男子之一。在指挥军队占领法国(1815~1818)并在托利党内阁担任军械署大将军(1818~1827)後,他在1828~1830年出任首相,但因反对国会改革而失去政权。去世时有极端盛大的葬礼来彰显他的荣耀,葬於圣保罗大教堂纳尔逊之旁。

1769~1852年

Wellington, Duke of

British general. Son of the Irish earl of Mornington, he entered the army in 1787 and served in the Irish Parliament 1790-97. Sent to India in 1796, he commanded troops to victories in the Maratha War (1803). Back in England, he served in the British House of Commons and as chief secretary in Ireland 1807-9. Commanding British troops in the Peninsular War, he won battles against the French in Portugal and Spain and invaded France to win the war in 1814, for which he was promoted to field marshal and created a duke. After Napoleon renewed the war against the European powers, the “Iron Duke” commanded the Allied armies to victory at the Battle of Waterloo (1815). Richly rewarded by English and foreign sovereigns, he became one of the most honored men in Europe. After commanding the army of occupation in France (1815-18) and serving in the Tory cabinet as master general of ordnance (1818-27), he served as prime minister 1828-30, but lost his office for opposing parliamentary reform. He was honored on his death by a monumental funeral and burial in St. Paul's Cathedral alongside Horatio Nelson.