The 1672 Dutch mob attack on Johan de Witt

In 1672, the Dutch took "eat the rich" way too literally. Johan de Witt was the main character of the Netherlands, running the Golden Age until a massive invasion ruined the vibes.

The public's version of "canceling" involved cornering Johan and his brother in the street and literally tearing them apart. They didn't stop there; the mob actually snacked on the remains.

It’s the messiest political exit ever, proving that when the "Year of Disaster" hits, the crowd might just turn their leaders into a literal buffet.

Wait, who was actually invading that made everyone lose their minds?

Imagine the ultimate "group project from hell" where the popular kids jump you. King Louis XIV of France — the final boss of 17th-century clout — teamed up with the English and two German bishops to delete the Netherlands from the map.

They attacked from all sides at once. The Dutch army folded like a cheap lawn chair, and the public went into a full-blown "end of the world" panic.

With the French Sun King at the doorstep, the mob didn't want logic; they wanted a scapegoat to blame for the vibes being ruined.

How did the French not just win immediately if the army was that bad?

They pulled the ultimate "if I can't have it, no one can" move. Since the Netherlands is basically a giant sponge, they decided to just let the ocean in and drown the vibes.

By opening the dikes and sluices, they created the "Water Line"—a massive, intentional flood that turned the heart of the country into a swampy fortress. It was the 17th-century version of a giant moat.

Louis XIV’s fancy army couldn't march through chest-deep water, and their heavy cannons just sank into the mud. The Dutch literally drowned the invasion's momentum to save what was left of their borders.

But didn't that just drown all the Dutch farmers and their houses too?

The farmers definitely didn't sign up for the 'Extreme Home Makeover: Swamp Edition.' The government basically treated the rural areas like a sacrificial shield to protect the high-value 'clout' cities like Amsterdam.

They kept the water at a very specific 'annoyance level'—about knee-deep. It wasn't a tsunami that deleted buildings, but it was enough to turn the soil into a muddy trap that swallowed French boots and expensive cannons whole.

It was a brutal trade-off: saving the nation's independence by absolutely wrecking the livelihoods of the people living on the front lines.

What stopped the French from just walking across once that water froze solid?

You just found the one glitch in the Dutch's "swamp defense" software. When winter hit, the French were hyped because their biggest obstacle—the water—suddenly turned into a literal red carpet for their boots.

The French commander tried to pull a pro-gamer move by marching thousands of troops across the ice toward the Dutch heartland. It was a total "main character" moment where it looked like the Netherlands was finally getting deleted.

But the weather did a massive vibe check. A sudden warm spell turned the ice into a slushy trap, forcing the French to retreat in a panic. The Dutch basically got saved by a thermostat adjustment from the universe.