The 1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union was the constitution of the Soviet Union adopted on 31 January 1924.

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, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and ratified by the Second Congress of Soviets. The 1924 Constitution legitimized the December 1922 Treaty on the Creation of the USSR between the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Byelorussian Soviet Republic, and the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic 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, which served as the executive branch of the government. The Central Executive Committee, effectively the legislature, was divided into the Soviet of the Union representing the constituent republics, and the

Soviet of Nationalities The Soviet of Nationalities; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; was the upper chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, elected on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage in accordance with the principles of S ...

representing directly the interests of nationality groups. The Presidium 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 The 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union, also known as the Stalin Constitution, was the constitution of the Soviet Union adopted on 5 December 1936. The 1936 Constitution was the second constitution of the Soviet Union and replaced the 1924 C ...

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 1924 in the Soviet Union 1924 documents January 1924 in Europe

History of the Constitution

See also

References

External links