The 1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union was the

constitution of the Soviet Union During its existence, the Soviet Union had three different constitutions enforced individually at different times between 31 January 1924 to 26 December 1991. Chronology of Soviet constitutions These three constitutions were: * 1918 Constitutio ...

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 A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, conventio ...

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 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

, 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 The Congress of Soviets was the supreme governing body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and several other Soviet republics and national autonomies in the Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1936 and a somewhat simil ...

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 Council of People's Commissars (CPC) (), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (), were the highest executive (government), executive authorities of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the Soviet Union (USSR), and the Sovi ...

, which served as the

executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

of the government. The Central Executive Committee, effectively the legislature, was divided into the

Soviet of the Union The Soviet of the Union (, ''Sovet Soyuza''; , ''İttifaqı Soveti''; ; , Moldovan Cyrillic: ; ; ; ; ; , ''Bileleşigiň Geňeşi''; ) was the lower chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, elected on the b ...

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