Home > William IV of Orange

He was the son of John William Friso of the Frisian branch of the house of Orange-Nassau and a descendant of the brother of William the Silent. After the death of his father, he became at age seven chief executive and military commander of the province of Friesland.

On March 14, 1734 he married Princess Anne, daughter of King George II of Great Britain.

In an effort to quell internal strife amongst the various factions, in 1747 the States-General selected William IV as their leader, making it a hereditary position. At first, he was popular with the people when he spoke out against the powerSociologists usually define power as the ability to impose one's will on others, even if those others resist in some way. By power is meant that opportunity existing within a social relationship which permits one to carry out one's own will even against r and wealth of the Dutch business establishment. Nevertheless, he was Director-General of the Dutch East India CompanyThe Dutch East India Company Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC in Dutch, literally "United East Indies Company") was established on March 20, 1602, when the government of the Netherlands granted it a monopoly to carry out Dutch colonial activities and his alliance with the businessHistorically, the term business referred to activities or interests. By extension the word became (as recently as the 18th century) synonymous with an individual commercial enterprise. It has also taken on the more general meaning of a nexus of commercial class deepened while the disparity between rich and poor grew. He served as stadtholderA stadtholder ( Dutch: stadhouder was the person that ruled an area in the name of the land owner, in the Netherlands (which includes present-day Belgium) from the 15th to the 18th century. After some of the Dutch provinces declared their independence in of all the Netherlands until his death in 1751.