Constitutions of the USSR

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The constitutions of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were three constitutions issued by different governments of the Soviet Union .

The Soviet Constitution of 1924 came into force on January 31, 1924 and consisted of two parts: the Declaration on the Establishment of the USSR and the Founding Treaty of the USSR.

On December 5, 1936, the so-called Stalin Constitution (named after Josef Stalin ) was adopted by the Soviet Congress.

In 1977 the so-called Brezhnev Constitution (named after Leonid Brezhnev ) replaced the one from 1936. This constitution remained in force until the referendum on a new constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993, i.e. until after the end of the Soviet Union , and became more than 300 times changed.

All three constitutions granted the constituent republics the right to leave the Union (1924 Constitution in Article 4, 1936 Constitution in Article 17, and 1977 Constitution in Article 72). This regulation probably contributed to the fact that the separation of the Baltic states could be carried out early and largely bloodless. Curiously, the Soviet Union, which is so centralized in practice, was one of the few federal states that granted this right to its sub-states.

literature

  • Yevgeny Zhukov and others: Sovetskaya istoritscheskaja enziklopedija: Tom 7 . Sowetskaja enziklopedija, Moscow 1965, col. 838 ff. (Russian)
  • Tamara Abowa and others: Konstituzija Strany Sowetow: slowar . Isd-wo polit. Lit-ry, Moscow 1982. (Russian)