什麼是拉斐德侯爵

Lafayette, marquis de，原名Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier。

法國軍事領袖。出身於極富裕的古老貴族家庭，曾為路易十六世朝臣，後為追求榮譽而從軍。1777年前往費城，被任命為少將，成為華盛頓的親密朋友，並在布蘭迪萬河戰役中立下赫赫戰功。1779年返回法國，説服路易派6,000士兵去幫助殖民者，並於1780年回到美洲指揮維吉尼亞州的軍隊，協助贏得約克鎮圍城戰役，人們歡呼他為「兩個世界的英雄」。1782年再度回到法國，成為開明貴族的領袖，1789年被選入三級會議。他向國民議會提出「人權和公民權利宣言」。後當選為巴黎國民自衞軍司令，旨在保護國王，擁護君主立憲。在他的自衞軍向練兵場中的請願羣眾開槍（1791）後，他就失去了人心而辭職了。1792年指揮軍隊與奧地利作戰，但被奧地利人打敗並俘獲直到1797年。回到法國後，拉斐德成為紳士農民。波旁王朝復辟期間在眾議院（1814～1824）中任職，並在七月革命（1830）時領導國民自衞軍。

1757～1834年

Lafayette, marquis de

French military leader. Born to an ancient noble family of great wealth, he was a courtier at the court of Louis XVI but sought glory as a soldier. In 1777 he went to Philadelphia, was appointed a major general, became a close friend of George Washington, and fought with distinction at the Battle of the Brandywine. He returned to France in 1779, persuaded Louis to send a 6,000-man force to aid the colonists, and returned to America in 1780 to command an army in Virginia and help win the Siege of Yorktown. Hailed as “the Hero of Two Worlds,” he returned to France in 1782, became a leader of liberal aristocrats, and was elected to the Estates General in 1789. He presented the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen to the National Assembly. Elected commander of the national guard of Paris, he sought to protect the king, favoring a constitutional monarchy. When his guards fired on a crowd of petitioners in the Champ de Mars (1791), he lost popularity and resigned his position. He commanded the army against Austria (1792), then defected to the Austrians, who held him captive until 1797. Returning to France, Lafayette became a gentleman farmer. In the Bourbon Restoration, he served in the Chamber of Deputies (1814-24) and commanded the national guard in the July Revolution (1830).