During its existence, 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 ...

had three different

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 ...

s enforced individually at different times between 31 January 1924 to 26 December 1991.

Chronology of Soviet constitutions

These three constitutions were: * 1918 Constitution of Soviet Russia – adopted 10 July 1918 (''De facto'' Constitution of the USSR from 1922 to 1924) *

1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union 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 of the Soviet Union and ratified by the Second Congre ...

– adopted 31 January 1924 ("

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

Constitution") *

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 ...

– adopted 5 December 1936 ("

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Constitution") * 1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union – adopted 7 October 1977 (" Brezhnev Constitution") The Constitutions of the Soviet Union were modeled after the 1918 Russian Constitution established by 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 ...

(RSFSR), the immediate predecessor and a

constituent republic Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

of the Soviet Union. These constitutions shared and upheld most basic provisions including the Soviet Union as a

socialist state A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. This article is about states that refer to themselves as socialist states, and not specifically ...

, the leadership of the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

, the forms of social property, and called for a system of

soviet 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 ...

s (councils) to exercise governmental authority. Soviet constitutions declared certain political rights, such as

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

freedom of assembly Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of individuals to peaceably assemble and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their ideas. The right to free ...

, and

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

, and inline with the state Marxist-Leninist ideology also identified a series of economic and social rights, as well as a set of duties of all citizens. Soviet constitutions established the bodies of the

Government of the Soviet Union The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was the executive and administrative organ of the highest organ of state power, highest body of state authority, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, All-Union Supreme Soviet. It ...

, outlined democratic rights, and stated the

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

was to be elected at periodical elections. Soviet constitutions became progressively longer and detailed, featuring more articles and provisions which generously expanded the rights and freedoms of the

Soviet people The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

including the

right to housing The right to housing (occasionally right to shelter) is the economic, social and cultural right to adequate house, housing and shelter (building), shelter. It is recognized in some Economic, social and cultural rights#National constitutions, nat ...

and

right to work The right to work is the concept that people have a human right to work, or to engage in productive employment, and should not be prevented from doing so. The right to work, enshrined in the United Nations 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Ri ...

. The 1936 Constitution received amendments in 1944 to allow the Soviet Union's constituent republics to be recognized as

sovereign states A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...

in international law, resulting in the

Ukrainian SSR 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. ...

and Byelorussian SSR joining the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

as founding members in 1945. The 1924 Constitution and 1936 Constitution were enacted by 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 ...

, the supreme governing body of the Soviet Union since its founding in 1922. The Congress of Soviets dissolved itself upon enactment of the 1936 Constitution, replacing itself as supreme governing body with the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union which later enacted the 1977 Constitution. The Constitution of the Soviet Union was effectively repealed upon the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

on 26 December 1991.

References

{{Constitutions of Europe Law of the Soviet Union

Chronology of Soviet constitutions

See also

References