The 1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union was the constitution of the Soviet Union adopted on 31 January 1924. According to Archie Brown the constitution was never an accurate guide to political reality in the USSR. For example, the fact that the Communist Party played the leading role in making and enforcing policy was not explicitly mentioned in it until 1977.Archie Brown, ''The rise and fall of Communism'' (2009) p, 518.

History of the Constitution

The 1924 Constitution was the first

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and ratified by the Second Congress of Soviets. The 1924 Constitution legitimized the December 1922

Treaty on the Creation of the USSR hy, ԽՍՀՄ ձեւավորման մասին պայմանագիր az, SSRİ-nin formalaşması haqqında müqavilə ka, ხელშეკრულება სსრკ-ს ფორმირების შესახებ , image ...

between the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

, the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

, the Byelorussian Soviet Republic, and the

Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , conventional_long_name = Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , common_name = Transcaucasian SFSR , p1 = Armenian Soviet Socialist RepublicArmenian SSR , flag_p1 = Flag of SSRA ...

founding the Soviet Union. In essence, the 1924 Constitution was an expansion and generalization of the 1922 Treaty, with most of the major parts already specified by the treaty, and also allowed for a potential expansion of the Soviet Union. Whereas the original Treaty had only 26 articles, the 1924 Constitution now had 72 divided into eleven chapters. The 1924 Constitution replaced the Russian Constitution of 1918 which served as a precursor and influenced the main principles of the Union-wide constitution. The 1924 Constitution established the Congress of Soviets to be the supreme body of Soviet state authority, with the Central Executive Committee having this authority during the interims and serving as the country's collective presidency. The Central Executive Committee also elected the

Council of People's Commissars The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...

, which served as the executive branch of the government. The Central Executive Committee was divided into the

Soviet of the Union The Soviet of the Union (russian: Сове́т Сою́за - ''Sovet Soyuza'') was the lower chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, elected on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballo ...

representing the constituent republics, and the

Soviet of Nationalities The Soviet of Nationalities (russian: Совет Национальностей, ''Sovyet Natsionalnostey'') was the upper chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, elected on the basis of universal, equal and ...

representing directly the interests of nationality groups. The

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. Communist states In Communist states the presid ...

supervised the government administration between sessions of the Central Executive Committee. The 1924 Constitution survived six editions until it was replaced by the

1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King ...

on 5 December 1936.

References

*
Soviet Union

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20170301180825/https://faculty.unlv.edu/pwerth/Const-USSR-1924%28abridge%29.pdf Constitution of the Union of Soviet Republics Abridged
Constitution of the Union of Soviet Republics
{{Constitutions of the Soviet Union Constitutions of the Soviet Union

Soviet Constitution During its existence, the Soviet Union had three different constitutions in force individually at different times between 31 January 1924 to 26 December 1991. Chronology of Soviet constitutions These three constitutions were: * 1924 Constitut ...

1924 in the Soviet Union 1924 documents January 1924 events

History of the Constitution

See also

References

External links