Redeloos, radeloos, reddeloos…
In the Rampjaar (Disaster Year) of 1672, the Dutch Republic was attacked from three sides: by the French King Louis XIV (the so called Sun King), by the English fleet, and by two German monarchs, the bishops of Münster and Cologne. The Netherlands lost more and more ground at sea and on land. The population started panicking, a stream of refugees arose and the De Witt brothers were murdered. “Het volk was redeloos, de regering radeloos en het land leek reddeloos…” (The people were irrational, the government distraught and the country beyond salvation.)
However, in a year’s time, the odds turned. In order to cut off the enemy, the young stadtholder Prince William III had part of the dikes deliberately damaged to let in the water: the Old Dutch Waterline was created. This water barrier connected the Dutch fortified cities – from Muiden and Naarden on the Zuiderzee to Gorinchem and Woudrichem near the Biesbosch – and protected the heart of the Republic: the region of Holland.
The French were surprised: the water turned out to be to deep for their horses and carts, yet too shallow for their ships. This wall made of water halted the 100,000-strong French army, and the Dutch Republic was saved…
Barriers of water
In the northern parts of the country, water was also used to protect our lands. The valleys in Drenthe and the peat areas around fortified Groningen were inundated. The troops of the Bishops of Münster and Cologne got stuck in the mud. Groningen was liberated, by which Friesland was also spared from hostile occupation. But without the battles at sea, the months of war in 1672 and 1673 could still have ended in drama. The fleet, led by Michiel de Ruyter, covered the fragile defence of the coastline of Zeeland, Holland and the Northern approaches. De Ruyter protected the coasts of the Republic and was victorious over the English war fleet in decisive naval battles, such as Solebay (June 1672) and Kijkduin (August 1673).