Their strategic position meant that both towns suffered badly in the Second World War, and the remaining residents were strongly supported by humanitarian aid from, in particular, the Swiss Red Cross in the years immediately following the conflagration.
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The Dukes of Lorraine controlled the transit of salt and wheat towards the mountains, and imposed a 'protection levy' on the 'Saulniers Way', a well frequented trade route across the mountains towards Sélestat and Saales.
When the principality of Salm-Salm was formed in 1751, La Petite-Raon was incorporated within it until 1792 when in the wake of the Revolution the village found itself in France, as a commune within the Canton of Senones.
Through and beyond the later medieval period, the history of the villages in the valley dominated by Celles-sur-Plaine was effectively the history of Salm-Salm.
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Most of the woodland which before 1871 belonged to Raon-sur-Plaine in Lorraine therefore remains, since that date, controlled from Grandfontaine in Alsace.
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The extent of this settlement approximately defines the territory that centuries later became the Principality of Salm-Salm after the settlement of 1751.
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Under Napoleon I the administrative map of France was extensively reworked and in 1805 Raon was incorporated into the commune of Schirmeck, which at this stage was still part of the Vosges département.
2006 Préludes, fugues et symphonie, Publisher : Rapport d’Etape (Venise (Italy) French bookshop).