The 1924 Soviet Constitution legitimated the December 1922 Treaty on the Creation of the USSR between the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, the Belarusian SSR, and the Transcaucasian SFSR to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
In essence, it was but an expansion of the Treaty, as most of the key points were already outlined there. The Constitution contained the identical to the Treaty Declaration, reflecting the current world order, and the common good causes of such a Union, allowing for a potential expansion.
Whereas the original Treaty contained only 26 articles, the Constitution now encompassed 72, divided into eleven chapters. Ratified by the Second Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union 31st of January 1924, it survived six editions, before being superseded by the 1936 Soviet Constitution.
It established the Congress of Soviets to be the supreme body of state authority, with the Central Executive Committee holding this authority in the interim. The Central Executive Committee is divided into the Soviet of the Union, which would represent the constituent republics, and the Soviet of Nationalities, which would represent the interests of nationality groups. The Presidium of the Central Executive Committee served as the collective presidency. Between sessions of the Central Executive Committee, the Presidium supervised the government administration. The Central Executive Committee also elected the Sovnarkom, which served as the executive arm of the government.
Famous quotes containing the words soviet and/or constitution:
“Today he plays jazz; tomorrow he betrays his country.”
—Stalinist slogan in the Soviet Union (1920s)
“One of the things I considered a delightful experience in school was the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I didn’t realize the gap was so big from the Founding Fathers until now. And I didn’t realize they weren’t talking about me.”
—Maxine Waters (b. 1938)