Wellington is the first and fifth son of the Earl of Mornington. Teenagers are unhappy and like to walk alone. It's no good studying at Eton College. In order to save his brother's tuition, his mother asked him to study as a lawyer. As a result, the only thing he does in a year is playing the violin. His widowed mother thinks he can only be cannon fodder and can do nothing else. He was sent to study at the Anger Military Academy in France. /kloc-joined the army at the age of 0/8 and served as the adjutant of the Irish governor. Later, he attacked his family to represent Triem's seat, from 1790 to 1797 as an Irish MP. At the age of 24, Wellington proposed to Catherine even though he was heavily in debt, but he was rejected. I was told that I would come back to find her as a big shot in 10 years, so Wellington burned his beloved violin and never played another song for life. Concentrate on your own business. He spent money to buy a rank of lieutenant colonel in the 33rd Infantry Regiment, and served in Flanders from 1794 to 1795, learning from the mistakes of officers. 1796 was sent to India voluntarily because of the needs of civil servants.
In India, he adopted the diet and regimen of Lotte know life. Because his eldest brother Richard came to be governor, he was able to give full play to his talents. He commanded a division to attack Dipu Sultan in Mysore, and later served as Governor of Mysore (1799) and Commander-in-Chief of the War against Malata. Because of successive victories, especially the victory of 1803 in Arthur, he led 7,000 people by surprise and defeated 40,000 Mysore troops (trained by the French army and equipped with 100 cannons and cavalry), and he personally negotiated and concluded a peace treaty. He thinks that this battle is more brilliant for him personally than the Battle of Waterloo. His winning qualities in various battlefields in Europe in the future were all cultivated in India, including: being able to make decisions, having common sense and paying attention to details; Love soldiers and attach importance to supplies; Keep good relations with ordinary people. Later, Napoleon only described him as an "Indian soldier", which was unwise. Wellington returned to England after being knighted in 1805.
Wellington's new job was disappointing: he led a brigade of Hastings to Hanover and ended in failure. But he is already recognized as a big shot. 1806, the family of Miss Catherine who refused him came to propose to him. 13 later, the unattainable beauty goddess in the little adjutant's heart has become a fat old girl. He agreed to get engaged, but whispered, "She's getting ugly." In the same year, he entered the National Assembly to refute the radical attack on his brother's achievements in India. He spent two years in Ireland as the first secretary of the Conservative Party. Defeated the Danish army in a short military expedition to Copenhagen (1807). 1808 When the Portuguese rose up against Napoleon, Wellington was ordered to support him. [Edit this paragraph] The victory of the Napoleonic Wars
Wellington does not intend to "lose half before the war"-this is the usual effect of Napoleon's hegemony on the armies of continental Europe. He hoped to use a "rock-solid army" to stop the French attack. The British infantry "Light Red Line" under his command really defeated the column of General Juno called "Storm" in Vermeer (2 1 August), which was the first complete failure of Napoleon's tactical system. However, the two senior British officers who came here were not allowed to pursue them, because they were willing to sign the unpopular sintra Treaty and let Juno's army return home safely. Wellington and several of his colleagues were court-martialed because of their excitement. Although acquitted, Wellington returned to Ireland as the chief secretary. But after the British troops withdrew from Spain, he thought he could still hold Portugal. 1809, he asked the government to let him lead the troops to fight again, which was an extremely important decision for Europe. He landed in Lisbon and surprised Marshal Sirte. (Napoleon called him the best tactician in Europe and the last of the four great marshals in French history) He captured Oberto, defeated 23,000 enemy troops at the cost of 23 casualties, and drove the French back to Spain. Although the British and Western allies won in Tarabella (July 27-28), their attack on Madrid failed. Although he was awarded a peerage for his offensive, Viscount Wellington led an extremely dominant army back to the Portuguese base and defeated Marshal massena in Busaco on September 27th, 2000. 50,000 British-Portuguese allied forces repelled 65,000 French troops, with only 1.200 casualties (626 British and Portuguese troops each), and the French army lost 5,000 people, including five generals. Marshal massena defeated Russian Marshal suvorov in Switzerland to save France, and was regarded as the most talented person among the imperial marshals, and was named the darling of victory. ) He retreated safely to the famous "torres Vedras Line", which he secretly built in Lisbon Peninsula. Massena's withdrawal from Portugal (18 1 1 spring, with 25,000 casualties) and the defeat of De Onion Oro (May 3-5) successfully proved that Wellington's scorched earth defense was correct, which strengthened the trust of his subordinates. His soldiers call him "Big Nose" and his officers call him "Playboy". So he is nicknamed because he has a slender figure of 175 cm and likes to wear casual clothes that fit him very well. You have brown curly hair and bright eyes.
His army grew step by step, and it was not until 18 12 that he had enough strength to capture the Spanish fortresses Rodrigo and badajoz. On July 22nd, Marmond defeated 40,000 French marshals in Salamanca. Only 40 minutes later, he entered Madrid (August 12). Because the siege of burgos failed, his army withdrew to Portugal again; 1865438+set out from here in may 2003 and marched to Spain for the last time. After leading his troops across the peninsula for thousands of miles, he cornered the 50,000 French troops led by King Joseph in the Victoria Basin, defeated them and seized all their trench (on June 26th, 5438+0, 120 cannons were captured 1 19). It led to the complete collapse of French rule in Spain. For the winner, there are too many such brilliant trophies. Even the golden scepter of Marshal Jules was captured by the British, who let the French army escape into the Pyrenees. At that time, Wellington publicly denounced his drunken army as "dirt". Queen Victoria's victory inspired the anti-Napoleonic alliance in Europe. For this reason, Le Sheng Pei Duofen specially wrote a victory symphony for this war to celebrate. When the dry season came, Wellington took the lead in invading France and crossed a series of river defense lines. It was not until 18 14 that the peninsula war ended (Napoleon abdicated four days ago) when he invaded Toulouse. At that time, he was already a marquis and marshal. This time, he was made a duke and the state gave him 500,000 pounds. Later, he was awarded the position of Rassfeld Thayer in Hampshire to maintain his position.
When Napoleon exiled Elba, Wellington was appointed as the ambassador of the restored Bourbon dynasty in Louis Stanislas Xavier. In February, he attended the Vienna Conference instead of Viscount Castlereagh, Foreign Minister. However, before the delegates finished mediating the dispute, Napoleon fled the island and landed in France in March of 1, and began his rule for 100 days. On June 65, 2008, the victory of Wellington and Prussian Marshal blucher in Waterloo made the Duke the most famous hero in Europe, if not the most jubilant. "I prayed to God that I would never fight again. He wept for the fallen soldiers and said, "It is a very bad thing to keep fighting. "His hope has come true. As the commander-in-chief of the French occupation army, he opposed the signing of a punitive peace treaty and rejected blucher's proposal to shoot Napoleon and burn Paris. He organized a loan to save French finance, and proposed to withdraw the occupation troops after three years. These policies won him the thanks of the Peace Conference. 18 18, he returned to China with six commander sticks (symbols of marshals) awarded by foreign countries. His position in the world military history is almost the same as that of Scipio Africanus, the famous Roman who defeated Hannibal, the father of strategy. [Edit this paragraph] Roles in the Cabinet
Wellington's experience abroad prevented him from becoming a party politician. Although he joined the Conservative Party Cabinet in Earl of Liverpool's time as the director of ordnance, he has not opposed the Whig government since then. He said: "Factional struggle has greatly damaged the national interests." When Manchester held a demonstration demanding parliamentary reform, there was the Petrou Massacre and a Gato street plot to murder cabinet members. After the Battle of Waterloo, public discontent reached boiling point. At this time, Wellington was closer to the side of maintaining law and order. 1822, canning succeeded viscount Castlereagh as foreign minister. Although Canning opposed the peace conference system, Wellington personally rejected George IV's personal opposition to Canning, and thought that the peace conference system was unshakable today. When Canning withdrew all British commitments to Europe, Wellington had to blame himself painfully. 1822 When the Verona Conference was held, he tried his best to calm the disputes among European allies, but failed to complete the diplomatic mission of 1826 in Russia. These two failures increased his pain. Wellington is an outspoken man. He is not suitable for Canning's cunning policy, but foreign countries regard him as honest and respect him.
1825, Wellington turned to the Irish issue, which was summed up as such a basic contradiction that had to be solved in a dilemma: only by allowing Catholics to participate in the requirements of Congress (so-called Catholic liberation) can political violence be ended, but Protestantism must maintain its superior position as a state religion. He privately studied a solution, thinking that the Pope must reach an agreement with the British monarch, at least to ensure that Catholic clergy would not make trouble, as a prerequisite for their "liberation." However, when Canning, an unqualified liberator, became prime minister in April 1827, Wellington felt that the superiority of Protestantism was in jeopardy. He and Pierre led a large number of people out of the government. He also resigned as the commander of the army. This action was interpreted as dissatisfaction with the king's choice of his opponent as prime minister. When denying this statement, Wellington blurted out that he was a soldier, and if he thought he was fit to be prime minister, it would be "worse than madness". After Canning died in August of the same year, he returned to military affairs. Less than five months later, The Viscount Goderich, Canning's successor, passed away, and the King of England summoned the Duke of Wellington on10.9/828. [Edit this paragraph] As Prime Minister
The duke's goal is to create a strong and balanced government by uniting the Conservative Party. In desperation, he resigned as Commander-in-Chief again, invited Canning officials headed by Huskisson, and abandoned the Tory extremists because they were incompatible with their moderate policies. So far away from the right wing, the left wing began to conflict again. The opposition demands large-scale reform, and the Huskisson Group holds the same view. The duke wisely made concessions, first of all, the church issue, and he automatically reformed the oath regulations and community regulations that condemned non-Christians. Second, corn laws's problem (prohibiting the import of foreign cheap grain), in which he carried out more enlightened reforms than he and his agricultural interest groups expected. But it wasn't long before he confronted the Haskiessen faction on the issue of parliamentary reform, which resigned in May. Then came another crisis: in the by-election in Clare, Ireland, Vezi Fitzgerald, who succeeded Huskisson as minister, tried to keep his seat in Parliament, but was defeated by O 'Neill, the Irish Catholic leader. Vezi Fitzgerald was a famous Catholic, and his failure sounded the alarm for the Duke: as long as it was not "liberated", no Conservative could win in southern Ireland. There is a great possibility of civil war. 1828 In August, Wellington took on the most arduous political responsibility in his military career, and persuaded George IV, then leader of the House of Commons Pierre and most Tories to agree to Catholic liberation. These people used to think that this reform was equivalent to apostasy. After six months of indomitable secret room negotiations, it was approved by the king. Pierre's situation is equally difficult. He is an open Protestant, so he insists that only by making him a backbencher can he support "liberation". However, Wellington's patience and Pierre's loyalty finally prevailed, and Pierre agreed to continue to lead the House of Commons. Some Tory extremists turned against Wellington's final order, but most Tories obeyed. Therefore,1April, 829, despite the split of the Tories, Catholicism was liberated into law, which was the duke's greatest political victory, and a farce was staged: he duel with Earl Winhill, an extremist who abused the Tories.
Sometimes people criticize Wellington for not having a clear opinion. Now it seems that he is just secretive and unwilling to reveal his thoughts too early. His desire for some form of "liberation" may have been revealed around 1825.
People's demand for further reform was encouraged by Wellington's own achievements, because of the great rural famine in 1829 ~ 1830; Earl Gray, the leader of Whig Party, took the opportunity to set off a new wave of parliamentary reform. His plan was to let industrial cities such as Birmingham be represented in Congress to replace constituencies manipulated by nobles and gentry. When George IV died in 1830 and was succeeded by William IV, he had the opportunity to express his dissatisfaction with Wellington's resigned attitude towards poverty and unemployment. In the same year, the French bourgeois revolution (July Revolution) greatly inspired the British reformists. Although Wellington's cabinet continued to exist, it was already weak, and Huskisson's sudden death destroyed the temporary reconciliation plan. Wellington believes that congressional reform is not a panacea, but a constitutional suicide. In a letter to a friend two weeks before the conference, he condemned the reform as destructive and said that his determination to oppose it had not changed. 165438+10.2, he made a declaration and resolutely opposed any reform, which surprised Congress. The reformists joined forces with vengeful Tory extremists and defeated him at 15. The next day, Pierre forced him to resign and was succeeded by Gray.
As a soldier, Wellington once showed a magical ability to guess what existed "beyond the mountain". However, due to the lack of political imagination, he believes that the other side of the reform is the revolution-"the revolution that adopts due process of law." Because of this wrong view, he is naturally called a reactionary. [Edit this paragraph] Old age
Although in opposition, the Duke continued to oppose Gray's attempt to get the reform bill passed in the House of Lords. Wellington's windows were damaged twice by radical thugs, and his iron shutters helped shape the image of an "iron duke". The Great Struggle reached its climax in the May crisis, 1832, which was close to the end of the French July Revolution. The king refused to canonize enough new noble to defeat the hostile members of the House of Lords. Gray resigned, and Wellington pieced together a rotating government team without success. In the face of chaos, Wellington still opposed the reform, and then retreated for the benefit of the country, persuading his followers not to attend Congress with him before the reform bill became law in June. However, on Waterloo Day, he was attacked by angry people. All he said was "Choose this strange day".
Wellington abstained and kept the House of Lords. During his leadership of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords, he continued to control them to avoid a disastrous conflict with the House of Commons. He supported the king's government as much as possible. 1834, William IV dissolved the Whig Party by coup and called Wellington to form a cabinet. However, the 65-year-old duke replied that Pierre should be the prime minister. For a politician, this abdication is the rarest, so it is praised by some people. He served as Foreign Minister (1834 ~ 1835) and Minister without portfolio (184 1 ~ 1846) in Pierre's cabinet. He also served as honorary president of Oxford University, president of the Tower of London, sheriff of Hampshire and one of the thirteen presiding members (later chairman) of the Pilots Association. Besides, Queen Victoria respects her father. The mistake he made was to become the commander-in-chief of the army in his lifetime, 10, because he no longer implemented the reforms that were urgently needed later. However, when the chartists wanted to launch an uprising, they stopped any riots because of his calm handling. The old skills he showed in 1848 have been repeated. Because he once again ordered the members of the House of Lords to "turn around" (this time about corn laws), he was able to repeal the law in jeanpierre. Wellington retired from public life from 1846, but still offered advice to various factions. Apps Lai House at the corner of Hyde Park is his residence in the city. It is called "London House 1". As the supervisor of Port Five, he died of a stroke at his favorite residence, Walmer Castle. A grand state funeral was held after death, which was the last funeral with various heraldic symbols in Britain. The burial place is St. Paul's Cathedral. [Edit this paragraph] Private life
The duke described himself as a "loyal servant of the king and the people" many times, which appropriately expressed his self-dedication spirit which was mainly respected. He is not only a hero, but also a "famous actor", because he has many interesting personal characteristics in clothing and communication, plus his witty genius in answering questions. His famous answer to a blackmailer was: "You can publish it publicly!" His marriage is not very happy. Catherine is too suspicious and worships him. She passed away on April 24th. 183 1. He has two sons. The first one edited his last "news". His children are all loved by him, just as he loves all the children. His warm friendship with women such as Harriet (Charlie's wife), Angela, Brett Gutz and Harriet Abbas Nott in the famous Seven Princes Club in London shows that if he marries a smart woman, he may be happy. However, he may be the happiest in the love of military families. Some modern historians oppose posthumous title, the "Iron Duke", for good reason, because he is neither cruel nor heartless. However, he often boasts of his strict discipline. In his favorite sentence "I'm just a person", he showed his frankness and simplicity. [Edit this paragraph] Life events
He joined the British army in 1787. 1794 ~ 1795 participated in the war against France.
From 1796 to 1805, the British army led a war to conquer the Indian prince.
From 1808 to 18 13, the British, Spanish and Portuguese allied forces fought against Napoléon Bonaparte I's army in Iberia Peninsula, flexibly used defensive tactics, took the initiative to retreat and attack in time many times, and resisted and defeated the French army with numerical superiority.
18 14 after the restoration of the French bourbon dynasty, he served as the British ambassador to Paris.
18 15 commanded the British and Dutch allied forces to fight against France, and resisted the attack of the French superior forces in the Battle of Waterloo. Finally, with the cooperation of Pu Jun, they defeated Napoléon Bonaparte I and marched into Paris to command the French allied occupation forces. After the war, he participated in many meetings of the anti-French alliance countries to re-divide their spheres of influence.
After 1828, he served as British Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and Minister without portfolio, and served as Commander-in-Chief of the Army for a long time. He opposed the "reform bill" and suppressed the 1848 charter movement. Wellington has made a certain contribution to the construction of the British army with high combat effectiveness, carried forward the tradition that the British army is good at defensive operations, and cultivated the brave and firm spirit of the troops. However, he opposed the reform politically, adhered to the old viewpoint and system militarily, demanded the selection of officers by rank, and advocated stick discipline.