Raon-lès-Leau is a
commune in the
Meurthe-et-Moselle department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in north-eastern
France.
History
In 1871, following the French defeat in the
Franco-Prussian War and the signing of the
Treaty of Frankfurt, Raon-lès-Leau and its close neighbour
Raon-sur-Plaine
Raon-sur-Plaine () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France.
Inhabitants are called ''Raonnais''.
Geography
Raon-sur-Plaine is positioned in the Celles Valley, to the west of the highest point of the North ...
were initially annexed by
Prussia, along with the rest of
Alsace-Lorraine. However, due to repetitive protests from the local population, the two villages were soon returned to
France, but not without the loss of most of their surrounding forests, which the Germans intended to keep as a
glacis
A glacis (; ) in military engineering is an artificial slope as part of a medieval castle or in bastion fort, early modern fortresses. They may be constructed of earth as a temporary structure or of stone in more permanent structure. More genera ...
for the defensive position of
Mont Donon. These terms were accepted by the French government which was desperately trying and more focused on retaining territorial control of a private railway line at
Avricourt. Opinions vary as to which nation state benefited from this last minute revision of the Treaty of Frankfurt, but for the villagers stripped of most of their rich forests, the deal was poor. Local discontent was perpetuated after
1919
Events
January
* January 1
** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia.
** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...
and 1945 when France found itself on the winning side of both
World Wars against Germany, but Paris decided against restoring the borders from before the Franco-Prussian War. Most of the woodland which before 1871 belonged to Raon-sur-Plaine and Raon-lès-Leau an thus to
Lorraine therefore remains, since that date, a part of
Grandfontaine in
Alsace.
See also
*
Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department
References
Raonlesleau
{{MeurtheMoselle-geo-stub