Albert Goblet d'Alviella

Albert Goblet

Albert Joseph Goblet, Count of Alviella (born May 26, 1790 in Tournai , †  May 5, 1873 in Brussels ) was a Belgian general and statesman.

Life

Albert Joseph Goblet received his education in French military schools and entered the French army as an engineer officer in 1811 . In this position he took part in the campaigns in Spain and distinguished himself in the defense of San Sebastian , which is why he was promoted to captain. After Napoleon's fall and the first restoration of the Bourbons, he went into Dutch service in February 1815 , fought at Waterloo (June 18, 1815), was later employed in the engineering corps and was in charge of the fortifications of Nieuport and Menin .

Since Goblet joined the Belgian Revolution in 1830 , he was appointed Colonel and General Director of the Genius Corps by the Provisional Government, and soon afterwards General War Commissioner. Of Orangeism suspicious, he had, however, in March 1831, entrusted to him by the Regent leadership of the Ministry of War resign. Soon afterwards he was elected to the Chamber of Representatives by Tournai and appointed by King Leopold I as adjutant and general inspector of the fortresses and the corps of geniuses. Then he was Belgian Plenipotentiary at the London Conference and on October 20, 1832, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister at the same time. He led France to siege the citadel of Antwerp and then brought about the convention of May 21, 1833, which secured Belgium the territorial status quo so beneficial for its industry. Later he worked on a draft of a new defense system for the northern border of Belgium.

Since Goblet was not re-elected to the Chamber of Representatives, he resigned from the Ministry on December 25, 1833 and went to Berlin as envoy . But he was not accepted there because he had broken the oath of the King of the Netherlands, which is why he returned to Brussels. In 1837 he went to Portugal as envoy and advisor to Queen Maria da Gloria and was appointed grande and count of Alviella because of the services rendered to her . In 1839 he returned to Brussels and became Minister of State without a portfolio. In 1843 he was appointed head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the second time in the cabinet of Prime Minister Nothomb , but resigned from his position in 1845 when the exclusively Catholic cabinet led by de Theux was formed .

1845–59 Goblet was a Liberal MP. In 1854 he resigned from military service as a general. His plans to strengthen Antwerp Fortress, presented in 1858, were accepted. He died in Brussels on May 5, 1873, at the age of almost 83.

Publications

• Des cinq grandes puissances de l'Europe dans leurs rapports politiques et militaires avec la Belgique , Brussels 1863
• Dix-huit mois de politique et de négociations se rattachant à la première atteinte portée aux traités de 1815 , 2 vols., Brussels 1864–65
• L'établissement des Cobourg en Portugal. Étude sur les débuts d'une monarchie constitutionnelle , Brussels 1869

literature

• Albert Goblet d'Alviella . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 7, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, pp. 465–466.