1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union

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1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union
Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union
Long title
  • 1936 Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Territorial extentSoviet Union
Enacted byCongress of Soviets of the Soviet Union
Signed byJoseph Stalin
Effective5 December 1936; 87 years ago (1936-12-05)
Repealed7 October 1977; 46 years ago (1977-10-07)
Status: Repealed

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 Constitution, with 5 December being celebrated annually as Soviet Constitution Day from its adoption by the Congress of Soviets.[1] This date was considered the "second foundational moment" of the USSR, after the October Revolution in 1917.[2] The 1936 Constitution redesigned the government of the Soviet Union, expanded all manner of rights and freedoms, and spelled out a number of democratic procedures. The Congress of Soviets replaced itself with the Supreme Soviet, which amended the 1936 Constitution in 1944.

The 1936 Constitution was the longest surviving constitution of the Soviet Union, and many Eastern Bloc countries later adopted constitutions that were closely modeled on it. It was replaced by the 1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union ("Brezhnev Constitution") on 7 October 1977.

Basic provisions

1952 postage stamp marking the 15th anniversary of the Soviet Constitution, illustrating the right to recreation

The 1936 Constitution repealed restrictions on voting, abolishing the

lishentsy category of people, and added universal direct suffrage and the right to work to rights guaranteed by the previous constitution. In addition, the 1936 Constitution recognized collective social and economic rights including the rights to work, rest and leisure, health protection, care in old age and sickness, housing, education and cultural benefits. The 1936 Constitution also provided for the direct election
of all government bodies and their reorganization into a single, uniform system.

Article 122 states that "women in the U.S.S.R. are accorded equal rights with men in all spheres of economic, state, cultural, social and political life."[3] Specific measures on women included state protection of the interests of mother and child, prematernity and maternity leave with full pay, and the provision of maternity homes, nurseries, and kindergartens.[3]

Article 123 establishes equality of rights for all citizens "irrespective of their nationality or race, in all spheres of economic, state, cultural, social, and political life."[3] Advocacy of racial or national exclusiveness, or hatred or contempt, or restrictions of rights and privileges on account of nationality, were to be punished by law.[3]

Freedom of religion and speech

Article 124 of the constitution guaranteed

1937 elections.[4]

Article 125 of the constitution guaranteed freedom of speech of the press and freedom of assembly.

Leading role of Communist Party

The 1936 constitution specifically mentioned the role of the ruling All-Union Communist Party (b) for the first time.[5] Article 126 stated that the Party was the "vanguard of the working people in their struggle to strengthen and develop the socialist system and representing the leading core of all organizations of the working people, both public and state".[6] This provision was used to justify banning all other parties from functioning in the Soviet Union and legalizing the one-party state.[7]

Nomenclature changes

The 1936 Constitution replaced the

Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet became the titular head of state of the Soviet Union. The Council of People's Commissars, known after 1946 as the Council of Ministers, continued to act as the executive arm of the government.[9]

The 1936 Constitution changed the names of all

Union Republics, the constituent states of the Soviet Union, transposing the second word "socialist" and third word "soviet" (or equivalent e.g. "radianska" in Ukrainian). Republics were named after the primary nationality and followed by "Soviet Socialist Republic" (SSR), except for the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
(RSFSR).

The

Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic
, were elevated to union republics individually.

Drafting

The 1936 Constitution was written by a special commission of 31 members which General Secretary Joseph Stalin chaired. Those who participated included (among others) Andrey Vyshinsky, Andrei Zhdanov, Maxim Litvinov, Kliment Voroshilov, Vyacheslav Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich, Nikolai Bukharin, and Karl Radek, though the latter two had less active input.[10]

Soviet portrayal and criticism

The 1936 Constitution enumerated economic rights not included in constitutions in the

counterrevolutionaries
shortly after their work was complete.

According to

Stalin's death."[16]

1944 amendments

The 1944 amendments to the 1936 Constitution established separate branches of the

sovereign states in international law. This allowed for two Soviet Republics, Ukraine and Byelorussia, to join the United Nations General Assembly as founding members in 1945.[17][18][19]

See also

References

  1. .
  2. .
  3. ^ .
  4. ^ Fitzpatrick, Sheila (1999). Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s. New York. Oxford University Press. p. 179.
  5. . Retrieved 19 December 2015. [...] with the exception of the 1924 Mongolian Constitution, all of the constitutions of the Eastern European and Asian Communist states were adopted after the second USSR Constitution of 1936 had been promulgated in which the first direct mention of the Communist Party can at last be found.
  6. ^ "Конституция (Основной закон) Союза Советских Социалистических Республик (утверждена постановлением Чрезвычайного VIII Съезда Советов Союза Советских Социалистических Республик от 5 декабря 1936 г.). Глава Х: Основные права и обязанности граждан" [Constitution (Basic Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (confirmed by the decision of the Extraordinary 8th Session of the Soviets of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of 5 December 1936). Chapter 10: Basic rights and duties of citizens]. Sait Konstitutsii Rossiiskoi Federatsii (in Russian). НПП "Гарант-Сервис". Retrieved 19 December 2015. Статья 126. В соответствии с интересами трудящихся и в целях развития организационной самодеятельности и политической активности народных масс гражданам СССР обеспечивается право объединения в общественные организации: профессиональные союзы, кооперативные объединения, организации молодежи, спортивные и оборонные организации, культурные, технические и научные общества, а наиболее активные и сознательные граждане из рядов рабочего класса и других слоев трудящихся объединяются во Всесоюзную коммунистическую партию (большевиков), являющуюся передовым отрядом трудящихся в их борьбе за укрепление и развитие социалистического строя и представляющую руководящее ядро всех организаций трудящихся, как общественных, так и государственных.
  7. ^ Tamara O. Kuznetsova, Inna A. Rakitskaya and Elena A. Kremyanskaya (2014). Russian Constitutional Law.
  8. .
  9. .
  10. ^ J. Arch Getty (Spring 1991). "State and Society Under Stalin: Constitutions and Elections in the 1930s". Slavic Review. Vol. 50. No. 1. p. 19, 22.
  11. ^ Pravda (25 November 1936).
  12. ^ Leonard Schapiro (1971). The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (2nd ed.). Random House. New York. pp. 410–411.
  13. .
  14. ^ Lomb, Samantha (March 2014). "A Fundamental Conflict of Vision: Stalin's Constitution and Popular Rejection" (PDF). Ohio State University. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  15. .
  16. ^ J. Arch Getty (1991) "State and Society Under Stalin: Constitutions and Elections in the 1930s". Slavic Review. Vol. 50. No. 1. pp. 18—35.
  17. ^ "Walter Duranty Explains Changes In Soviet Constitution" Archived 2015-09-04 at the Wayback Machine. Miami News. 6 February 1944.
  18. ^ "League of Nations Timeline – Chronology 1944".
  19. ^ "United Nations – Founding Members".

External links