View source for 1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union

{{Short description|Governing document in the USSR}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox legislation
| short_title    = Constitution of the Soviet Union
| legislature    = 
| long_title     = 1924 Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
| territorial_extent = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Soviet Union (1924).svg}} [[Soviet Union]]
| enacted_by     = [[Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union]]
| signed_by      = [[Vladimir Lenin]]
| date_effective = {{start date and age|1924|01|31|df=y}}
| date_repealed  = {{start date and age|1936|12|05|df=y}}
| image          = File:Coat_of_arms_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1923–1936).svg
| repealed_by    = [[1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union]]
| status         = repealed
}}

The '''1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union''' was the [[communist state constitution]] adopted on 31 January 1924.

==History of the Constitution==
{{Unsourced section|date=October 2024}}
The 1924 Constitution was the first [[constitution]] of the [[Soviet Union]] and ratified by the [[Second All-Union Congress of Soviets|Second Congress of Soviets]]. The 1924 Constitution legitimized the December 1922 [[Treaty on the Creation of the USSR]] between the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]], the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]], the [[Byelorussian Soviet Republic]], and the [[Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic]] founding the Soviet Union. In essence, the 1924 Constitution was an expansion and generalization of the 1922 Treaty, with most of the major parts already specified by the treaty, and also allowed for a potential expansion of the Soviet Union. Whereas the original Treaty had only 26 articles, the 1924 Constitution now had 72 divided into eleven chapters. The 1924 Constitution replaced the [[Soviet Russia Constitution of 1918|Russian Constitution of 1918]] which served as a precursor and influenced the main principles of the Union-wide constitution.

The 1924 Constitution established the [[Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union|Congress of Soviets]] to be the supreme body of Soviet state authority, with the [[Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union|Central Executive Committee]] having this authority during the interims and serving as the country's [[President (government title)#Collective presidency|collective presidency]]. The Central Executive Committee also elected the [[Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union|Council of People's Commissars]], which served as the [[executive branch]] of the government. The Central Executive Committee, effectively the legislature, was divided into the [[Soviet of the Union]] representing the [[Constituent republics of the Soviet Union|constituent republics]], and the [[Soviet of Nationalities]] representing directly the interests of [[Demographics of the Soviet Union|nationality groups]]. The [[Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union|Presidium]] supervised the government administration between sessions of the Central Executive Committee.

The 1924 Constitution survived six editions until it was replaced by the [[1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union]] on 5 December 1936.

==See also==
* [[1936 Soviet Constitution]]
* [[1977 Soviet Constitution]]
* {{section link|Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union|Government}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{Country study}} - [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/sutoc.html Soviet Union]

==External links==
*{{in lang|ru}} [https://constitution.garant.ru/DOC_8001.htm Full Text and All Laws Amending the 1924 Constitution of the U.S.S.R.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170301180825/https://faculty.unlv.edu/pwerth/Const-USSR-1924%28abridge%29.pdf Constitution of the Union of Soviet Republics Abridged]
* [https://soviethistory.msu.edu/1924-2/union-treaty/union-treaty-texts/first-union-constitution/ Constitution of the Union of Soviet Republics]

{{Constitutions of the Soviet Union}}

[[Category:Constitutions of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1924 in law|Soviet Constitution]]
[[Category:1924 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1924 documents]]
[[Category:January 1924 in Europe]]
[[Category:Constitutions of communist states]]