Raon-lès-Leau is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.department in north-eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

History

In 1871, following the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the signing of the

Treaty of Frankfurt The Treaty of Frankfurt may refer to one of three treaties signed at Frankfurt, as follows: * Treaty of Frankfurt (1489) - Treaty between Maximilian of Austria and the envoys of King Charles VIII of France *Treaty of Frankfurt (1539) - Initiated ...

, Raon-lès-Leau and its close neighbour Raon-sur-Plaine were initially annexed by

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

, along with the rest of Alsace-Lorraine. However, due to repetitive protests from the local population, the two villages were soon returned to

, but not without the loss of most of their surrounding forests, which the Germans intended to keep as a glacis for the defensive position of

Mont Donon Mont Donon is the highest peak in the northern Vosges. It is a Category 2 climb in the Tour de France. On Donon, there is an 80 metre tall lattice tower for TV transmission. Its TV transmission antennas are covered by a polymeric cylinder, which ...

. 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 ...

and 1945 when France found itself on the winning side of both

World Wars A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

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 Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

therefore remains, since that date, a part of Grandfontaine in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

History

See also