The Duke of Wellington: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Lord Arthur Wellesley the Duke of Wellington 6575.jpg|framethumb|400px]]

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, [[Knight Fever|1st Duke of Wellington KG KP GCB GCH PC FRS]], was one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century. He is often referred to as one of the greatest English generals of all time, except that he was Irish. His supposed response (not recorded until after his death) to people pointing out his Irish birth was something along the lines of 'If a man is born in a stable, that doesn't make him a horse', a sentiment which didn't stop him marrying an Irish woman or the Irish building a [[wikipedia:Wellington Monument, Dublin|200 ft -foot-tall monument in his honour]]. To be fair his comments stemmed from a dislike of the Protestant and often power-abusing Irish Nobility rather than the "normal" Irish.

One of Britain's more quotable war leaders after [[Winston Churchill]]. Perhaps his most famous quote is "Our army is the scum of the earth - the merest scum of the earth." This is something of a [[Beam Me Up, Scotty]], however, as it sounds far harsher than intended due to people leaving out the second part: "...so it really is wonderful that we should have made them the fine fellows they are.<ref>As another point, in ''The Mask of Command'', historian John Keegan claims that that quote was given in the context of a criticism of pay arrangements which gave better allowances for the dependents of militiamen then those volunteering to serve abroad on the grounds that it brought a low quality of recruit for the later.</ref>."

He was an opponent of parliamentary reform, and was given the epithet of the [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Iron Duke]] because of the iron shutters he had fixed to his windows to stop the pro-reform mob from breaking them. When Parliament burned down in 1834, the Duke advised it be rebuilt in the same place, with one side against the river Thames, reasoning that that made it more difficult to be surrounded by a revolutionary mob.

As primePrime ministerMinister he, among other things, passed the Catholic Relief Act, removing the legal blocks against Catholicism. This one exception to his usual ultra-conservative politics is perhaps attributable to a combination of his Irish background and his old Peninsular War army being one-third Catholic. It can also be regarded as an earlier example of 'Nixon in China' - if even the ultra-Tory Duke thought Catholic emancipation was necessary, it was more convincing to undecideds than if it had remained a purely Whig cause. Wellington remained one of the leading figures in the House of Lords until his retirement and Commander-in-Chief of the British Army until his death.

* [[Badass]]: He never lost a battle. Never. And fought only one with superior numbers (Vitoria).

* [[Bribing Your Way to Victory]]: partPart of the reason Wellington made Colonel so quickly was that he bought his way up the ranks. This was [[Values Dissonance|completely normal at the time]], and obviously he turned out to suit the position.

** Bribery is the wrong word. He wasn't paying someone off to promote him when he didn't deserve it. The normal and legal way of gaining a commisioncommission in the British army was to purchase it, In fact, the only other way to get a promotion was to inherit it from a dead superior or do something so suicidally brave that they had no choice but to promote you.

* [[He Also Did]]: Well known for his battlefield career, but his later political career is much less well known. Partly because any recounting of his political career casts him in a less-than-positive light by modern standards, what with his staunch opposition to parliamentary reform, whereas his exemplary career as a commander is much less contentious.

* [[Knight Fever]]: Wellington's titles ended up including a dukedom in the British peerage as well as dukedoms in the peerages of Portugal, Spain and France and a princedom in the Netherlands, 29 knighthoods in twenty different countries (including the highest grade in the premier order of each country), more-or-less honorary field marshal rank in the armies of eight countries, and eleven honorary posts in the government of the United Kingdom from Lord High Constable of England and Constable of the Tower of London through to Ranger of Hyde Park and Chancellor of hhethe University of Oxford. If you were to put the initials for each of these after his name, you'd be talking for a very long time.

** To elaborate, his full name and titles were [[OverlyTry Longto NameFit That on A Business Card|Field Marshal His Grace Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, Marquess of Wellington, Marquess Douro, Earl of Wellington, Viscount Wellington and Baron Douro, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Knight Grand Cross of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, One of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, and Field Marshal and Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's Forces, Field Marshal of the Austrian Army, Field Marshal of the Hanoverian Army, Field Marshal of the Army of the Netherlands, Marshal-General of the Portuguese Army, Field Marshal of the Prussian Army, Field Marshal of the Russian Army, and Captain-General of the Spanish Army, Prince of Waterloo, of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo and Grandee of Spain of the First Class, Duke of Victoria, Marquess of Torres Vedras, and Count of Vimiera in Portugal, Knight of the Most Illustrious Order of the Golden Fleece, and of the Military Orders of St, Ferdinand and of St, Hermenigilde of Spain, Knight Grand Cross of the Orders of the Black Eagle and of the Red Eagle of Prussia, Knight Grand Cross of the Imperial Military Order of Maria Teresa of Austria, Knight of the Imperial Orders of St, Andrew, St, Alexander Newski, and St, George of Russia, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Portuguese Military Order of the Tower and Sword, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal and Military Order of the Sword of Sweden, Knight of the Order of St, Esprit of France, Knight of the Order of the Elephant of Denmark, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, Knight of the Order of St, Januarius and of the Military Order of St,. Ferdinand and of Merit of the Two Sicilies, Knight Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the Annunciation of Sardinia, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Military Order of Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria, Knight of the Royal Order of the Rue Crown of Saxony, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit of Wurtemberg, Knight Grand Cross of the Military Order of William of the Netherlands, Knight of the Order of the Golden Lion of Hesse Cassel, and Knight Grand Cross of the Orders of Fidelity and of the Lion of Baden, Fellow of the Royal Society, Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Honorary Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports]].

* [[No Indoor Voice]]: His portrayal in ''[[Blackadder the Third]]'' is actually fairly accurate in that respect: Wellington really did shout an awful lot.