The First Constitution of the USSR: Content and History

The beginning of the 1920s was marked by the emergence of a new world power in the political arena - the USSR. The first Constitution of the USSR was adopted two years after the creation of the Soviet Union.

The very first code of laws of the new state was signed in January 1924. It was then at the Second Congress of Soviets that the first Constitution of the USSR was adopted, which legislated the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Also, the first fundamental law reflected the multinational structure of the Soviet Union and the powerful base of Soviet power. It is worth noting that the first Constitution of the USSR was adopted by foreign powers without any contradictions.

What accelerated the creation of this code of laws? As is known, the Declaration on the Establishment of the USSR was approved at the first Congress of Soviets , and already in January 1923, exactly one year before the adoption of the first Constitution, six commissions were established to draft and prepare a text for the future code of laws. The first constitution has the following structure:

• First section: Declaration on the Formation of the Soviet Union ;
• Second section: Treaty on the Formation of the Soviet Union.

The first section characterized the principles of the entry into the Soviet Union of other republics. The principles were: voluntariness and equality.

In addition to these principles, the Constitution explicitly stated the possibility of a world revolution, the division of the world into two camps: the capitalist and the camp of socialism. The second section of the Constitution of the USSR included 11 chapters in which the emblem, the flag and the capital of the Soviet Union, the rights of sovereign republics, the provisions on the executive committee, the presidium and other bodies of power were affirmed.

The first Constitution of the USSR had the following exclusive subjects of reference:

• Foreign policy and trade;
• Development of basic laws;
• Management / planning of the state budget and economy;
• Issues of war / peace.

The second Constitution of the USSR was adopted 12 years later and lasted until 1977.
It had its name: "Stalin's Constitution," or "Constitution of Victorious Socialism." What did the new document of the Soviet Union proclaim? First, he said that in the USSR socialism has won. Secondly, it confirmed the destruction of private property and the introduction of equal universal suffrage. Strangely enough, but the Constitution of 1936 gave people freedom of the press, assembly, speech and rallies, and inviolability of secret correspondence. The representative of all public and state organizations under the 1936 Constitution was the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. It is worth noting that until 1977 the day of the Constitution was considered December 5 - this day was celebrated as a holiday by the whole people. In 1962, Khrushchev creates a commission to review the country's main law.

The first Constitution of the USSR was published in early 1924. It was the first code of laws of the new state, the new great power. But its history was very small: only 12 years the first Constitution of the USSR had the highest legal force in the Soviet Union, after which it was revised and abolished.