geographical position on the border Gorazde was during World War I one of the main strongholds of Austria-Hungary used against Serbia and Montenegro.
Yugoslavia
In pre-war Yugoslavia Gorazde, being no more a frontier town, had normal conditions under which to develop and prosper.
In 1941 German troops entered the town after an air-raid on April 17. Later on Italian troops were also stationed there.
The National Liberation Army took over the town for the first time on January 27, 1942, and remained there until May of the same year. During this period National Liberation Committees were formed for the town the district of Gorazde on the basis of the Foca Stipulations. At the same time Gorazde was the headquarters of the National Liberation Army for East Bosnia. Early in March, 1942 the Commander-in-Chief, Marshal Tito stayed in Gorazde. Gorazde was liberated twice more, in 1943 and 1944, and on March 6, 1945 it was finally liberated from the occupation.
Chetnik massacres against ethnic Croats and Bosniaks in December 1941/January 1942 caused the death of approximately 2,050 civilians.
The composition of the Gorazde population can be traced from the times of Austro-Hungarian occupation. The Orthodox inhabitants originate from Stari Vlah in Sandzak, Brda in Montenegro, Herzegovina and South Serbia The few ancestral inhabitants exempted, the Muslim. population began to come in great numbers to Gorazde and its surroundings in the 17th century.
From the end of the war till 1961 a considerable number of new groups of families came to live in Gorazde from the neighbouring villages and from some other far away places, having been attracted by the economic growth of Gorazde. According to the census of 1961 Gorazde had 8,812 inhabitants.
Before World War II the industry of Gorazde comprised mainly retail trade and in some measure wholesale trade, the catering industry, handicraft, transport. During the occupation,
