什麼是威靈頓公爵

Wellington, Duke of，原名Arthur Wellesley。

英國將領。愛爾蘭莫寧頓伯爵之子，1787年進入陸軍，1790～1797年在愛爾蘭議會服務。1796年奉派至印度，他在馬拉塔戰爭（1803）中領軍獲勝。回到英國後，他服務於英國下議院，1807～1809年擔任愛爾蘭祕書長。他在半島戰爭中指揮英國軍隊，在葡萄牙和西班牙戰勝法國，併入侵法國，而在1814年贏得戰爭的勝利，爲此他被提升爲陸軍元帥，並晉封爲公爵。在拿破崙對歐洲強權重啓戰端後，這位「鐵公爵」指揮聯軍在滑鐵盧戰役（1815）獲勝。受到英國和外國君主豐厚的報酬，他成爲歐洲最尊榮的男子之一。在指揮軍隊佔領法國（1815～1818）並在託利黨內閣擔任軍械署大將軍（1818～1827）後，他在1828～1830年出任首相，但因反對國會改革而失去政權。去世時有極端盛大的葬禮來彰顯他的榮耀，葬於聖保羅大教堂納爾遜之旁。

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.