Constitution of the USSR 1936
By the mid-30s. in political, economic and social structure countries have undergone serious changes: a new one has been cancelled. economic policy, the mixed economy and exploiting classes were eliminated. It was declared that collectivization had been completed in the USSR Agriculture, industrialization of industry, cultural revolution. Based on this, it was considered that the transition period from capitalism to socialism was over.
December 5, 1936 The Extraordinary VIII Congress of Soviets of the USSR approves the draft Constitution. It consisted of 13 chapters, including 146 articles. Chapter I of the Constitution covered issues of the social structure of the state (Articles 1–12). It proclaimed the presence of two friendly classes in society: workers and peasants, with the leading role assigned to the working class. The political basis of the USSR was the Soviets of Working People's Deputies. The economic basis is represented by the socialist economic system and socialist ownership of the means of production. There were two forms of socialist ownership: state and collective farm-cooperative.
In Chapter II of the Constitution " State structure"(Articles 13–29) the principles of Soviet federalism were consolidated. Here is an exhaustive list of issues falling within the competence of the USSR: representation in international organizations, issues of war and peace, admission to the USSR, control over compliance with the Constitution, approval of changes in borders between union republics, the formation of new territories and regions, autonomous republics, organization of defense , foreign trade, protection of state security, development of national economic plans for the development of the country, justification of a unified budget, taxes, management of industrial, agricultural enterprises, transport, communications, banks, establishment of basic principles in the field of education and health care, the foundations of labor legislation.
All other issues were resolved by the union republics independently. Each of them had its own Constitution, similar to the Constitution of the USSR. Each republic declaratively retained the right to secede from the Union, but the mechanism for this secession was still not disclosed. The territory of the union republics, according to the Constitution, could not be changed without their consent.
Chapters III–VIII (Articles 30–101) examined the organization, system and procedure for the activities of the highest bodies of power and management. The highest authority was the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, elected for 4 years. It consisted of two chambers: the Council of the Union and the Council of Nationalities. Laws were considered approved if they were passed by both chambers with a simple majority of votes. The Council of the Union was elected by citizens of the USSR at the rate of 1 deputy per 300 thousand population. The Council of Nationalities was elected as follows: from each union republic - 25 deputies, from an autonomous republic - 11, from an autonomous region - 5, from a national district - 1.
The Supreme Council met in sessions twice a year, and extraordinary ones - at the discretion of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR or at the request of one of the union republics. Between sessions of the Supreme Council, the highest authority was the Presidium, accountable to it, elected at a joint meeting of both chambers.
The Council of People's Commissars was the government of the USSR, approved by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
Chapter IX “Court and Prosecutor's Office” established the principles of organization and activities of the court and prosecutor's office. The Supreme Court became the highest judicial body. The highest supervision over the implementation of laws was carried out by the USSR Prosecutor's Office.
Chapter X established the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens. However, a significant part of them did not have guarantees, but were only proclaimed (freedom of speech, press, rallies, meetings, demonstrations, inviolability of the person, home, privacy of correspondence, etc.).
The Constitution of the USSR enshrined not only the rights, but also the duties of citizens: to observe the Constitution, implement laws, maintain labor discipline, protect and strengthen public socialist property. The Constitution declared the defense of the USSR an honorable duty, a sacred duty of every citizen of the USSR.
Chapter XI covered the features of the Soviet electoral system. It secured universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot. The right to vote was granted to citizens of the USSR from the age of 18. Persons with mental disabilities and those convicted of deprivation of voting rights were not allowed to participate in elections.
Chapter XII gave a description of the coat of arms and flag of the USSR. The capital was called Moscow. It also talked about the procedure for changing the Constitution only by decision of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, adopted by a majority of at least 2/3 of the votes of each chamber.
Thus, the Constitution attempted to separate the powers of the legislative, executive and judicial powers. At the same time, there was no real separation of powers at the level of checks and balances; the power of one party was legislated (Article 126).
This Constitution, democratic in form, in reality turned out to be an inactive Basic Law. Its articles were crossed out by emergency measures that had nothing to do with the text of the Constitution.
The social, economic and political development of the state ended with the adoption of the Extraordinary VIII All-Union Congress of Soviets in 1936. Constitution of the USSR.
The Constitution of the USSR proclaimed the political unification of workers and peasants, which was confirmed by the renaming of the Councils of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies into the Councils of Workers' Deputies, which formed the political basis of the USSR. The economic basis of the USSR was the socialist economic system and socialist ownership of tools and means of production.
The highest authority according to the Constitution of the USSR was the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which has a bicameral structure. Council of the Union (elected by territorial districts) and Council of Nationalities (elected by union, autonomous republics, autonomous regions and national districts). Both chambers had equal rights, worked in session, and were elected for 4 years. The Supreme Council was the only legislative body.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was elected at a joint meeting of the chambers and was a permanent body. He convened sessions of the Supreme Council, interpreted existing laws, and had the right to repeal decisions of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR that did not comply with the law.
The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR acted as a government and had no legislative functions, but could issue by-laws.
People's Commissariats acted as sectoral management bodies.
At the local level, instead of congresses of Soviets, simply Soviets began to operate, consisting of elected deputies.
The state structure of the country was defined by the Constitution of the USSR as a federal (union) association of republics, based on the voluntary association of equal and sovereign Soviet socialist republics.
The Constitution of the USSR established a single citizenship and proclaimed the right of every citizen of the USSR to work, rest, material security in old age, the right to education, women were equal in rights to men.
The Constitution of the USSR enshrined the principle of equal rights for citizens regardless of their race or nationality.
The Constitution of the USSR guaranteed citizens freedom of speech, press, meetings, rallies, street processions, demonstrations, and the right to associate in public organizations.
The progressive nature of the USSR Constitution was positively received by the working people of bourgeois states and served as an example for many countries.
However, many of the democratic principles of the USSR Constitution did not find practical implementation, since its norms were not of decisive importance in the life of the state and society and were grossly violated by state bodies.
Prerequisites for the creation of the Constitution of 1936:
1. The USSR increasingly turned into a powerful industrial power, the features of an agrarian-industrial state were lost;
2. capitalist features of the economy were replaced by socialist ones;
3. socialist ownership of tools and means of production has finally been established;
4. exploitation classes disappeared;
5. a collective farm peasantry was formed;
6. Further democratization of the electoral system has emerged.
Features of the USSR Constitution of 1936 (in comparison with the Constitution of 1924):
1. This is a broader Constitution, which included new chapters: on social structure; about local government bodies; about the court and the prosecutor's office; on the fundamental rights and responsibilities of citizens; about the electoral system;
2. The norms of the Constitution of 1936 regulated in detail the state structure of the USSR, the system of supreme authorities of the USSR and union republics:
a) the highest body of power - the Supreme Council, its Presidium (formed on the basis of universal suffrage and direct secret ballot for 4 years, suffrage arose from the age of 18);
b) the Council of People's Commissars (SNK - the highest executive and administrative body), the People's Commissariat (reportable to the Supreme Council);
c) the system of courts and prosecutors (the Supreme Court of the USSR, the supreme courts of the union republics, regional, regional, district courts; people's courts were elected bodies, the term of office was 3 years);
3. in the social structure, the presence of two friendly classes in society was established: workers and peasants;
4. the political basis of the USSR was consolidated - the councils of working people's deputies, i.e. a single political ideology was formalized in law;
5. The Constitution called the economic basis the socialist economic system and socialist ownership of tools and means of production; two forms of ownership were fixed: state (land, water, mines, transport, communications) and cooperative-collective farm ( public enterprises in collective farms and cooperative organizations with their equipment, products, public buildings), as well as the personal property of collective farmers on personal plot(house, livestock, small equipment);
6. the economic life of the country was subordinated to the state national economic plan;
7. labor was constitutionally declared the duty and matter of honor of every able-bodied citizen of the USSR;
8. principles of government: Soviet and socialist federalism; voluntariness and unification of the republics, their equality and sovereignty;
9. The central authorities of the USSR had the greatest amount of powers:
a) representation of the country in international relations;
b) resolving issues of war and peace;
c) the admission of new republics to the USSR;
d) drawing up national economic plans of the USSR, etc.;
10. The status of citizens under this Constitution included: the right of ownership of labor income; work obligation; the right to rest, to material support in old age, illness, loss of ability to work, etc.
Related information.
Chita 2006
Plan
Introduction. 4
New Constitution of 1936 General principles. 5
State structure. 5
Main trends in the development of Soviet law in the 1930s. 7
Citizens' rights under the 1936 Constitution 9
The Constitution of 1936 and political repression. 16
Conclusion. 18
During the period from 1924 to 1936 (after the adoption of the first Constitution of the USSR and before the adoption of the second), significant economic, political and social changes occurred in the country.
The multi-structural economic structure was reconstructed to strengthen the state planning sector. The remnants of the “exploiting classes” were eliminated, the social composition of the intelligentsia and the working class changed (many people from the countryside appeared among them).
Strong transformations took place among the peasantry.
A new ruling layer was formed, creating its own bureaucracy and ideologists. Significant changes have occurred in the field of nation-state building. Many changes have also occurred in the structure and organ system government controlled and management of the national economy.
A. Sources and scope of law
On the basis of the USSR Constitution, all power was concentrated in the Supreme Council, the principle of separation of powers was rejected as “bourgeois”.
In a number of legal sources, the primary role was given to the law. Law in the formal sense is any act adopted by a representative body; in the material sense, it is an act that does not necessarily emanate from the legislative branch, but contains norms of general significance that establish certain rules of behavior.
According to the 1936 Constitution, the formal and material aspects of Soviet law always coincide. In practice, the Supreme Council delegates its functions (for the period between sessions) to the Presidium. The Council of People's Commissars also makes resolutions and decisions on the basis and in pursuance of existing laws.
The process of delegation of legislative power from one body to another was facilitated by the fact that these state power structures were consolidated by party-political unity. The leading party bodies took an active part in their formation.
\Since the 30s everything larger number Government resolutions began to be adopted jointly with the governing party body of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. Party decisions actually acquired the character of normative acts. This transformation was also due to the idea of law as an instrument public policy(therefore, the acts that regulated the most serious political actions, for example, the collectivization of agriculture, came from two sources: the government and the Central Committee). The processes of concentration of political power within a narrow circle of party and government officials (nomenklatura) were accompanied by a narrowing civil rights for the bulk of the population.
This was especially obvious in the areas of labor, collective farm and criminal law.
The introduction of passports and the institution of registration strengthened administrative control over the population. Rural residents, who often did not receive passports, were effectively tied to their place of residence and had limited rights to move around the country.
B. Legal regulation of agriculture
In the field of agriculture, a number of measures were taken to strengthen planning principles.
In May 1939, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution “On measures to protect public lands of collective farms from fragmentation,” which secured collective farm lands within established limits and limited the process of increasing the personal lands of collective farmers.
In January 1940, the same bodies adopted a resolution “On the mandatory supply of wool to the state”, in March - “On changes in the policy of procurement and purchase of agricultural products”.
Back in September 1939, the agricultural tax system was changed, which included progressive income taxation of household plots and exemption from tax on workdays received by collective farmers. For collective farms, a per-hectare principle of taxation was established (based on the amount of land), stimulating more intensive use of land holdings by collective farms.
Simultaneously with these events, in April 1939, a resolution was adopted “On the prohibition of the exclusion of collective farmers from collective farms.” The state sought to consolidate the labor force on collective farm lands and in collective farm production.
B. Legal regulation in the field of industrial production
Similar processes occurred in the sphere of industrial labor. In December 1939, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Council of People's Commissars and the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions adopted a resolution “On measures to strengthen labor discipline...”, which established differentiated standards of insurance coverage, depending on the length of service at a given enterprise (institution).
At the same time, the government introduced in production work books, which recorded the position held, incentives and penalties imposed on the employee.
In July 1940, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the mandatory labor standard was increased: instead of the existing seven- and six-hour working days, an eight-hour working day was established; instead of a five-day working week, a six-day working week was established.
A month later, a new decree prohibited the unauthorized departure of workers from enterprises and institutions, as well as the transfer from one organization to another. Criminal penalties were applied to violators.
In October 1940, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the People's Commissariats were given the right to transfer workers and employees from one enterprise to another (regardless of their territorial location) forcibly.
At the same time, the Decree “On State Labor Reserves” was adopted, on the basis of which a network of vocational schools and factory schools was developed to train skilled workers. State reserves work force should have been at the direct disposal of the government.
Citizens' rights under the 1936 Constitution
In general, the Constitution of 1936 enshrined general principle equality of citizens Soviet Union only on two social indicators that did not raise any political doubts: race and, oddly enough, nationality. Discrimination based on race was not relevant in the Soviet Union. Moreover, the equality of all races was a proletarian principle that was supported by the Soviet state as an international principle.
The State Committee on Statistics did not maintain statistics on this social indicator. And therefore, it is not possible to discuss speculatively the implementation of this principle in relation to such a social characteristic as race. A different assessment can be given to the proclamation and observance of the principle of equality based on nationality.
The sign of equality on the basis of nationality was initially denied by Stalin's policy itself. After the adoption of the Constitution of 1936 (as, indeed, before that), this principle was denied by everyday life. Migration of peoples, acute " Jewish question“in the dimension of Stalin’s policy - all this denied the idea of equal rights for citizens of the USSR based on nationality.
The question arises: why was the understanding of equality so limited - only on the basis of race and nationality? This is explained by the fact that proletarian ideology, which later became the foundation of Soviet ideology, did not recognize equality on the basis of origin, property status, attitude to religion, beliefs, membership in public associations, as well as other circumstances.
The principle of equality on the basis of belonging to a particular religion or denomination was not denied, but was not declared in the Constitution of 1936. Article 124 of the Constitution enshrined the provision on the separation of church and state, and this secured the separation of believers from non-believers. There was no compliance with their equality policy. Rights were granted to those citizens who professed state ideology, not religion. Regardless of gender, religious affiliation was the basis for the inferiority of citizens, classifying them as unreliable.
The origin and the principle of equality in the Soviet state were not fundamentally combined, since in accordance with Art. 1 of the Constitution, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was “a socialist state of workers and peasants.” This was the fundamental position of the state and the party, which was the party of workers and peasants. Origins other than those of workers and peasants initially excluded the citizen from the scope of the principle of equality, whether man or woman.
Property status as social characteristic was the basis for assigning citizens to a class, to social group. But due to the fact that the propertied classes were destroyed, the question of property status did not arise. Equality was possible only between workers and peasants, including property equality.
This chain of exceptions can be continued, but the logic of the exceptions is the same: equality was violated by the idea of taking away rights if it was combined with ideological ideas. The equality of both men and women in society was subject to endless restrictions.
The principle of equality cannot have exceptions. He is “joined” to a Citizen who is equal in rights to another Citizen, be it a man or a woman. It is absolute, this principle.
The exceptions also concerned the principle of equality based on gender. Beyond the exceptions mentioned above, equality was subtracted once again.
Article 122 of the USSR Constitution established that “women in the USSR are provided equal rights with (emphasis mine - L.Z.) a man.” This constitutional provision equalized the status of one sex with the status of the other - male. There is hardly any reason to talk about the gender idea of equality of the two sexes, since the standards laid down in the Constitution were one-sided - masculine. This is not a standard in the modern sense, which is based on the idea of respect for human rights regardless of gender, be it a man or a woman. But this was an important step in the understanding that women should be equal to men in all areas of economic, state, cultural and socio-political life, albeit in conditions of limited freedom, the boundaries of which were determined by the state.
This was manifested in two more articles of the Constitution, which contained special normative provisions regarding the equality of citizens in the exercise of the fundamental political right - to elect and be elected.
Article 135 established that elections of deputies are universal: all citizens of the USSR who have reached the age of 18, regardless of gender, have the right to participate in elections.
Any citizen could also become a deputy, regardless of gender.
Article 137 established that “women enjoy the right to vote and be elected on an equal basis with (emphasis added - L.Z.) men.”
The constitutional enshrinement of equality, namely the right to vote and be elected, was ensured for a long time by special political institutions Communist Party THE USSR. Socialist democracy included, as a necessary element, the representation of women in all structures of power.
33% of women were among the members of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and similarly in the Supreme Councils of the republics of the USSR, and up to 50% of women were represented in all lower-level power structures - the Councils people's deputies. Women, in accordance with the ideological and political guidelines of the Communist Party, were supposed to personify the victory of the ideology of the Soviet state and the Communist Party. A female worker, however, like a male worker, was supposed to personify the strength of the state of workers and peasants.
These “standards” were not a quota set by the state. This was the ideological position of the party, according to which the representation of men and women represented the victory of socialist democracy. In reality, behind this was the system of governing bodies of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, which worked to demonstrate the success of its policies towards women.
Such policies were not based on strong foundations because society did not adapt the ideology and culture of gender equality. This ideology was “descended” from above and, therefore, was not truly embedded in real social relations. But the illusion of achieving equality was supposed to reflect the “successes” of socialism, and it did.
Based on gender, equality was adjusted towards the proletarian, socialist roles of workers - men and women. The slogan “He who does not work, neither does he eat” remained generally accepted, although it had exceptions. And seizures were made based on gender.
Firstly, the right to work was declared a duty in the state of workers (Article 12 of the Constitution). At the same time, this citizen’s duty to work was declared as a right. Article 118 of the USSR Constitution established that “citizens of the USSR have the right to work, i.e. the right to receive a guaranteed job” (the right was ensured by the absence of unemployment).
But this right was filled with proletarian, Soviet-style ideological content. In accordance with criminal and administrative legislation, persons evading the performance of labor duties were prosecuted. These standards had legal force: they concerned mainly the male population. They operated until the beginning of perestroika. Anyone who did not work was declared a parasite.
A woman, in accordance with the idea of the Soviet state, was not only a worker, but also a mother. And the role of a mother certainly gave her a reason to be freed from the obligation to work in production while granting her the right to be equal to a man. The right to work was not strictly linked to the obligation to work only for women. She could only have the status of a mother. The role of a father did not free me from the obligation to work.
The gender-defined role of a man during all the years of Soviet power consisted of one thing: to be a worker, a worker. The role of the father was not provided for by the ideology of equality. And the state provided the man with work, which was not a right, but a duty of a healthy man.
The status of paternity was not provided for in the 1936 Constitution. Part 11 art. 122 of the USSR Constitution proclaimed state protection of the interests of mother and child, state assistance to large and single mothers, provision of maternity leave to women with pay, the creation of a wide network of maternity hospitals, nurseries and kindergartens.
This constitutional norm meant the reproduction of traditionally patriarchal ideas of society regarding women and their roles in society. Although equality for the sexes was guaranteed in all areas, paternity, the status of the father, was not enshrined in constitutional law. Talk about the equality of two subjects family relations, father and mother, there are no grounds under the 1936 Constitution.
In the 1930s, the principle of upholding women's rights in relation to their children was practically undeniable. These are the roots of the old-style family life, where the wife is the mother and the father is the worker. And this model was reproduced in the norm of the Constitution. The man did not have the right to state protection of paternity interests and state assistance to large and single fathers. Paternity was not included as a standard of equality in the sphere of state protection and patronage. This gender-asymmetrical norm (Article 122) reflected the idea of unequal status of mother and father in society.
During the years of Soviet power, the state undermined the economic role of men as heads of the family. This role was destroyed by socialist wages. The state and the Communist Party took on a patriarchal role in relation to the family, securing the economic dependence of all family members as the basis of society on the employer, the state.
If a woman had the right to choose: to be a mother or a worker, or to combine two roles, then a man had no such choice. He had to work. But in his only role-status he was placed in unilinear economic dependence on the state. And he was obliged only to the state for his “well-being” (just like a woman). He was tied to a state that was patriarchal and, in addition, totalitarian in its sutras. He was economically dependent.
This undermined the idea that was traditional for the Russian (pre-revolutionary), essentially patriarchal family: the head of the family is the male breadwinner. It could be a father, husband, brother - all males. The Soviet economy was not able to provide the man, who was previously traditionally considered the head of the family, with sufficient material security to support the family. Unwittingly, the socialist state and the socialist economy made the role of the head of the family economically untenable. This is one of the reasons for the changing nature of family relationships in the 20s, 30s and subsequent years.
In addition to this reason, there is another. A woman entered the socialist labor market. She received equal rights to work with men. She became economically independent. And this also determined the nature of relationships in the family. The family began to be built according to the type of egalitarian family, where the husband and wife had independent earnings, but at the same time they were economically tied to the state. The woman left economic dependence on her husband as the breadwinner, and the economic role of the husband - the head of the family, the breadwinner - remained only in tradition - in the history of the family. From a certain time, economic power began to belong to the state - the only employer and breadwinner. Gender dependence of two sexes on the socialist state has become a characteristic of the family and society since the early 30s.
The 1936 Constitution and political repression
Evaluate the 1936 Constitution without analysis political repression, which followed the adoption of the Constitution, is impossible.
The idea of equality was hardly fundamental during this period of the country's history. The “equality” of the two sexes - men and women in the implementation of the policy of repression - is a subject of special examination.
Given the unconditional political and ideological orientation of the repressions, their important component was the repressions against “enemies of the people” and their families. The data, now known to everyone, published in the press, allows us to draw a conclusion. The repressed citizens of the USSR - Russia and other republics, for the most part, were not “enemies of the people.” They were “enemies” of a system that mercilessly destroyed people, and a state ideology that was forcibly imposed and disseminated, and which was also used to destroy people.
The repressions, of course, were not based on the ideology of gender symmetry. But due to the internal logic of repression, this was a symmetry of gender repression. It reproduced the rule of exterminating people - men and women, “enemies of the people,” enemies of the system. It was a rare family that was not repressed. Even children were harmed. They were not carriers of ideology. But they were the link between generations. For the system that destroyed their parents, they were potentially dangerous. They were, from the position of the totalitarian system, continuators of the clan who personified the idea of resistance to the system.
CHSVN (member of the family of the “enemy of the people”) - these are wives and children, these are sons and husbands. These are people who were subjected to repression. They were citizens of the USSR. They remain in the memory of those people who became the grandchildren of repressed family members of enemies of the people.
CHSVN is an abbreviation for gender symmetry; it is an indicator of the destruction of almost the entire family.
The gender symmetry of repression has never been explored. It should be the subject of future research to establish the truth.
The basis of the repression was the ideology of force, which was reproduced in the practice of destruction and humiliation of society. A woman-mother, a woman-wife as an object of violence in many cases was included in the circle of repression only on the grounds that she was the object of patriarchal, totalitarian relations, where a woman was recognized as an object of force - the force of power.
Conclusion
In history, the USSR Constitution of 1936 is a symbol of the power of a totalitarian state and violence. During the repressions, the Constitution of 1936 was used as decoration. It was used for ideological purposes as a tool to affirm the idea of the state caring for the citizen and his family while simultaneously destroying the family and family members. But neither men, nor women, nor children could imagine that the Constitution of Gender Symmetry could become for them the last state concern for gender well-being, their last “funeral”. No one has calculated the costs of the use of violence and the ideology of state violence. Power, muscular in nature, led to victims, and the victim, as we know, is not the concern of a totalitarian state. It is subject to protection, whether it is a man or a woman. Gender symmetry in protection from violence should be a subject special attention society and state.
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The USSR Constitution of 1936 was adopted by the VIII Extraordinary Congress of Soviets on December 5, 1936. The main author of the text of the constitution was N. I. Bukharin; K. B. Radek also participated in the work. By the time the constitution was adopted, Radek had already been arrested, and Bukharin’s name was compromised by the testimony of the defendants at the First Moscow Trial (he had two months left before his arrest).
The content of the Stalin Constitution of 1936 was democratic, but in reality there was repression of citizens, a fight against dissent, and in practice the rights of citizens were in no way realized.
The most important event of the post-war period of history both for the entire country and for our republic was the implementation of the monetary reform in December 1947. The Soviet leadership planned to carry it out back in 1946, but famine and drought, which then engulfed part of the USSR territory, prevented it. Quantity paper money, issued for circulation in 1941 - 1945, increased from 18.4 to 74 billion rubles. According to calculations by the USSR Ministry of Finance, the population had over 66 billion rubles in their hands after the war. The Soviet leadership formulated the main goal of the reform as follows: “The exchange must be carried out on such conditions that not only the removal of all excess money from circulation is ensured, but that as a result of the exchange, the monetary savings of persons who profited from speculation during the war will be basically cancelled.” and other illegal ways."
In this work, the second question will analyze the purpose, progress and results of the monetary reform of 1947.
1. Tell us about the constitutional principles of citizens’ rights and the deformations in their implementation in the 30s.
The adoption of the USSR Constitution of 1936 is a renewal of the entire constitutional system of the Union, which is explained by the country’s entry into a new stage of its development. It was believed that the domination of private property and the exploitation of man by man had been ended forever. The main innovation was the introduction of Chapter X into the 1936 Constitution, dedicated to human rights and freedoms. In connection with the liquidation of the exploiting classes, universal, equal, direct suffrage by secret ballot was introduced. The Constitution for the first time enshrined the principle of equal rights of citizens.
According to Art. 118 of the 1936 Constitution, “citizens of the USSR have the right to work, that is, the right to receive guaranteed work with payment for their work in accordance with its quantity and quality. The right to work is ensured by the socialist organization of the national economy, the steady growth of the productive forces of Soviet society, the elimination of the possibility of economic crises and the elimination of unemployment.
According to Art. 119 of the 1936 Constitution, citizens of the USSR have the right to rest. The right to rest is ensured by establishing an eight-hour working day for workers and employees and reducing the working day to seven and six hours for a number of professions with difficult working conditions and up to four hours in workshops with particularly difficult working conditions; establishment of annual leaves for workers and employees with preservation of wages; providing a wide network of sanatoriums, rest homes, and clubs to serve workers.
According to Art. 120 of the 1936 Constitution, citizens of the USSR have the right to financial support in old age, as well as in case of illness and loss of ability to work. This right is ensured by the widespread development of social insurance of workers and employees at the expense of the state, free medical care workers, providing a wide network of resorts for the use of workers.
According to Art. 121 of the 1936 Constitution, citizens of the USSR have the right to education. This right is ensured by universally compulsory eight-year education, the widespread development of secondary general polytechnic education, vocational education, secondary specialized and higher education based on the connection between learning and life, with production, the comprehensive development of evening and correspondence education, the freeness of all types of education, the system of state scholarships, education in schools at native language, organizing free production, technical and agronomic training for workers in factories, state farms and collective farms.
According to Art. 122 of the 1936 Constitution, women in the USSR are granted equal rights with men in all areas of economic, state, cultural and socio-political life. The possibility of exercising these rights of women is ensured by granting women equal rights with men to work, wages, rest, social insurance and education, state security interests of mother and child, state assistance to mothers with many children and single mothers, provision of leave for women during pregnancy with pay, a wide network of maternity hospitals, nurseries and kindergartens.
According to Art. 123 of the 1936 Constitution, the equality of citizens of the USSR, regardless of their nationality and race, in all areas of economic, state, cultural and socio-political life is an immutable law. Any direct or indirect restriction of rights or, conversely, the establishment of direct or indirect advantages of citizens depending on their racial and national origin, as well as any preaching of racial or national exclusivity, or hatred and disdain, are punishable by law.
According to Art. 124 of the 1936 Constitution, in order to ensure freedom of conscience for citizens, the church in the USSR is separated from the state and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of anti-religious propaganda are recognized for all citizens.
According to Art. 125 of the 1936 Constitution, in accordance with the interests of workers and in order to strengthen the socialist system, citizens of the USSR are guaranteed by law: a) freedom of speech; b) freedom of the press; c) freedom of assembly and rallies; d) freedom of street processions and demonstrations. These rights of citizens are ensured by providing workers and their organizations with printing houses, paper supplies, public buildings, streets, communications and other material conditions necessary for their implementation.
According to Art. 126 of the Constitution of 1936, in accordance with the interests of workers and in order to develop organizational initiative and political activity of the masses, citizens of the USSR are guaranteed the right to associate in public organizations: trade unions, cooperative associations, youth organizations, sports and defense organizations, cultural, technical and scientific societies, and the most active and conscious citizens from the ranks of the working class, working peasants and working intelligentsia voluntarily unite into the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which is the vanguard of workers in their struggle to build a communist society and represents the leading core of all organizations of workers, both public and state.
According to Art. 127 of the 1936 Constitution provides citizens of the USSR with personal immunity. No one can be arrested except by order of a court or with the sanction of a prosecutor.
According to Art. 128 of the 1936 Constitution, the inviolability of the home of citizens and the secrecy of correspondence are protected by law.
According to Art. 129 of the 1936 Constitution of the USSR grants the right of asylum to foreign citizens persecuted for protecting the interests of workers, or scientific activity, or national liberation struggle.
According to Art. 130 of the 1936 Constitution, every citizen of the USSR is obliged to comply with the Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, comply with laws, maintain labor discipline, honestly treat public duty, and respect the rules of socialist society.
According to Art. 131 of the 1936 Constitution, every citizen of the USSR is obliged to protect and strengthen public, socialist property, as the sacred and inviolable basis of the Soviet system, as a source of wealth and power of the Motherland, as a source of prosperous and cultural life for all working people. Persons who encroach on public, socialist property are enemies of the people.
According to Art. 137 of the 1936 Constitution, women enjoy the right to vote and be elected on an equal basis with men.
That is, the constitutions of the Soviet period were of a “fictitious” nature. They proclaimed principles that were not actually implemented in life. And the Constitution of 1936 is no exception. If Article 125 guaranteed freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of meetings and rallies, freedom of street processions and demonstrations, then it immediately “warned” that these rights and freedoms were guaranteed only in order to strengthen the socialist system and in the interests of the working people. In other cases, no rights and freedoms could be guaranteed. In addition, you can pay attention to Articles 127 and 128, which guarantee citizens of the USSR “inviolability of personality,” “inviolability of citizens’ housing and secrecy of correspondence.” But in fact, if we turn to the memories of contemporaries, we see a completely different situation.
In Art. 123 of the Constitution, the equality of citizens of the USSR, regardless of their nationality and race, in all areas of economic, state, cultural and socio-political life is an immutable law. Any direct or indirect restriction of rights or, conversely, the establishment of direct or indirect advantages of citizens depending on their racial and national origin, as well as any preaching of racial or national exclusivity, or hatred and disdain, are punishable by law.
Thus, the Basic Law guaranteed:
a) freedom of speech;
b) freedom of the press;
c) freedom of assembly and rallies;
d) freedom of street processions and demonstrations.
The Basic Law stated: these rights of citizens are ensured by the provision of printing houses, paper supplies, public buildings, streets, communications and other material conditions necessary for their implementation to workers and their organizations.
In order to ensure freedom of conscience for citizens, the church in the USSR was separated from the state and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of anti-religious propaganda are recognized for all citizens (Article 124 of the Constitution).
Again, “de jure” citizens of the USSR were guaranteed personal immunity. No one can be arrested except by court order or with the sanction of the prosecutor (Article 127 of the Basic Law). The constitution also guaranteed the inviolability of citizens’ homes and the secrecy of correspondence is protected by law.
Article 129 spoke of granting the right of asylum to foreign citizens persecuted for protecting the interests of workers, or scientific activity, or the national liberation struggle.
Along with rights, the Constitution also contained a number of duties: every citizen of the USSR is obliged to comply with the Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, comply with laws, maintain labor discipline, honestly treat public duty, respect the rules of socialist society (Article 130):
- every citizen of the USSR is obliged to protect and strengthen public, socialist property, as the sacred and inviolable foundation of the Soviet system, as the source of the wealth and power of the Motherland, as the source of the prosperous and cultural life of all working people;
— military service in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the USSR is an honorable duty for citizens of the USSR.
Chapter XI of the Constitution established the electoral system of the USSR. Article 134 established: elections of deputies to all Councils of Working People's Deputies: the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Supreme Councils of the Union republics, regional and regional Councils of Working People's Deputies, Supreme Councils of Autonomous Republics, Councils of Working People's Deputies of Autonomous Regions, district, district, city and rural (stanitsa, villages) , farmstead, village, aul) Councils of Working People's Deputies - are established by voters on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.
That is, for the first time, the principle of “one person, one vote” was approved. The right to vote was granted to citizens of the USSR from the age of 18. A citizen who has reached the age of 23 can become a deputy. The right to nominate candidates for deputies was given to public organizations. Each deputy was required to report on his work and could be recalled at any time by decision of the majority of voters (Articles 134-137 of the Constitution).
To summarize, it should be said once again that in practice, gross violations of the rule of law and human rights, which were guaranteed by the Constitution of the USSR of 1936, were allowed. And proof of this can be the period mass repression. The omnipotence of the punitive authorities and the decorativeness of the court were perceived by Soviet people as a violation of laws and constitutional rights. In particular, unfounded arrests and sentences have become one of the important subjects of folklore. “Seven questionnaires - one answer”, “Missing - no foam, no bubbles”, “Language will bring you to the Ostyak-Vogul district” - these proverbs indicate a fairly objective assessment of the causes of repression and the methods of activity of the NKVD.
Probably, the conviction of the extremely widespread use of illegal methods by the investigative authorities penetrated into people's consciousness. This can be confirmed by a unique case when a young worker living in Nizhny Tagil, who tried to give up his life because of unhappy love, after unsuccessful attempt suicide, came to the NKVD department, hoping that by self-incrimination he would achieve capital punishment. His argument was knowledge of similar facts that had occurred earlier.
If we take into account the level of education of the main part of the country's population, then the ideas about “pests” and “saboteurs” could turn out to be a convincing explanation for the accidents, fires and insurmountable difficulties that occurred. For example, at UZTM in 1933, when numerous breakdowns became commonplace during the development of new equipment, demonstrative trials: for breaking a machine, a turner was sentenced to 4 years in prison; An 18-year-old worker was sentenced to 3 years in prison, and a Komsomol technician, sent by the shop manager to work on a machine with which he was not familiar and causing a breakdown, was brought to court for “political myopia.”
But in addition to the fact that rights are written down on paper, it is necessary that the state itself be their guarantor and monitor their observance - and in the 30s a paradoxical situation developed: on the one hand, the government gives guarantees for the observance of rights and freedoms, and on the other - prevents you from using them. It was not possible to object to anything, since in those years public statements about any shortcomings of the Constitution or socialism were punishable. And in reality, man was absolutely powerless and powerless in the face of total terror.
2. Tell us about the monetary reform of 1947.
The second Soviet monetary reform was carried out in 1947. Its necessity was determined by the fact that during the war years (1941-1945) military spending increased sharply, while the production of consumer goods decreased and retail trade turnover decreased. To cover the growing imbalance, a large amount of money was released into circulation. In addition, the reform was ripe because in the temporarily occupied territory the Nazis issued counterfeit money, which also increased their surplus in circulation. The lack of commodity supply of money reduced its purchasing power. The reform was also necessary to neutralize the speculative elements that had accumulated cash reserves and kept them in cash boxes.
A variant was developed to remove the excess amount of money from circulation through monetary reform, which was dictated by life and was an objective necessity.
The reform was associated with the abolition of the card system, which could not be carried out in 1946 or the first half of 1947 due to the great drought and crop failure that befell the country in 1946. In September 1946, an important preparatory measure for monetary reform was carried out, which consisted in bringing together commercial and ration prices by reducing the former and increasing the latter. The increase in ration prices was offset by an increase in wages for low- and medium-paid workers and employees (bread allowance).
The favorable development of industry (reaching the pre-war level by the end of 1947) and agriculture (in 1947 the harvest exceeded the 1946 level by 58%) made it possible to accumulate commodity reserves necessary for proper intervention at the time of monetary reform. The success of the monetary reform was facilitated by the stable balance of the state budget: in 1946, an excess of revenues over expenses was achieved. Thus, in the second half of 1947, all the necessary economic and financial prerequisites for carrying out monetary reform were created.
In December 1947, a decree “On carrying out monetary reform and the abolition of cards for food and industrial goods” was issued. The monetary reform consisted of the exchange of banknotes in circulation for new ones in a ratio of 10:1 and a differentiated revaluation of cash savings: small deposits in savings banks up to 3,000 rubles, constituting 80% of all deposits, were not subject to revaluation; deposits exceeding 3,000 rubles were not subject to revaluation. were revalued above this amount in a ratio of 3:2 (up to 10,000 rubles), and deposits in excess of 10 thousand rubles. - in a ratio of 2:1. Preferential conditions for the revaluation of savings were also established for holders of government loan bonds: bonds of mass loans were exchanged for bonds of a new loan in a ratio of 3:1, bonds of a freely marketable loan of 1938 - in a ratio of 5:1, and bonds of a 1947 loan were not subject to revaluation.
After the abolition of the card system, state retail prices in 1948 were 17% lower than the pre-reform state of prices, and market prices decreased by more than 3 times. The reform significantly strengthened the public credit system; there was a large influx of deposits during the reform period and after its implementation. The reform dealt a blow to speculators who kept their savings in their hands, and completely made it impossible to use both counterfeit money and Soviet money taken by the occupiers from the USSR.
The implementation of monetary reform was accompanied by a powerful propaganda campaign and the organization of rallies at enterprises<в поддержку реформы>, the active work of agitators in the workplace. This demagogic veil was supposed to hide the fact that the monetary reform of 1947 was confiscatory in nature, that the new prices set by the state were for the most part higher than the commercial prices approved after the war. The state once again solved its problems at the expense of citizens. In fact, the reform led to the forced seizure of money from those who had certain amounts in their hands. Rural residents who did not trust their savings to the state were especially affected. Taught by the bitter experience of the 1920s and 1930s, when, under various pretexts, people were not given money from savings banks, they kept their hard-earned homes in mattresses, pillows, and egg capsules. The reform of 1947 hit hard not so much on the “speculators” and “rich people”, but on the most socially vulnerable segments of the population - collective farmers and other rural residents. The 1947 money exchange came as a shock to millions of Soviet people.
Task
Solve a problem based on the story of I. Ilf and E. Petrov “The Twelve Chairs”:
Meeting of O. Bender and I. Vorobyaninov at the apartment of E.S. Boru.
“After Mr. Kislyarsky arrived, about eight people gathered in the room along with the “concessionaires.”
– We’ll have to serve our fatherland! – Bender said instructively, “Are you nobles?” Very good!! Be strong, the West will help us!
Complete secrecy of deposits, that is, of the organization!
- The secret alliance of sword and ploughshare! – Ostap whispered ominously.
“However, you can leave, but I warn you, we have long arms!”
Give a legal assessment of the above event from the point of view of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1926.
Solution
This act falls under Article 169 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1926, that is, fraud: “Breach of trust or deception in order to obtain property or the right to property or other personal benefits (fraud), - imprisonment for a term of up to two years.”
Conclusion
1. The Constitution of 1936, as conceived by the authors, was supposed to reflect an important stage in the history of the Soviet state - the building of socialism. For the first time, 75 million people took part in its discussion, and 2.5 million proposals, additions, and amendments were made. Received the name “Constitution of victorious socialism”, “Stalinist constitution”. The Constitution proclaimed that socialism in the USSR had won and was basically built. This meant that the dictatorship of the proletariat was established, private property and the exploiting classes were destroyed, and the socialist classes were victorious. relations of production. The economic basis was proclaimed to be a planned socialist economic system, based on socialist property in its two forms - state and collective farm-cooperative.
For the first time in the history of the Soviet state, the Constitution of 1936 provided all citizens with equal rights: universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot; the right to work and rest, material security in old age and illness, freedom of conscience, speech, press, meetings and rallies. The inviolability of the individual and the secrecy of correspondence were proclaimed. In practice, some of these rights and freedoms were fulfilled only for people who agreed with the Party’s course and were grossly violated during the brutal internal party struggle.
The Constitution enshrined the principles of socialist democracy in state building, the principles of socialism in the social and national-state structure of the USSR, defined new democratic principles of the electoral system (introduced a system of direct, equal and general elections by secret ballot) and the construction of supreme and local government bodies, approved social freedoms and rights of citizens of the USSR, expanded representation in the supreme body of power of all union and autonomous republics, autonomous regions and national districts. The political superstructure was brought into line with the economic basis of socialism.
The Constitution of the USSR of 1936 opens with a chapter devoted to the social structure. It, first of all, defines that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a socialist state of workers and peasants (Article 1). By virtue of the Constitution, the Councils of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies were transformed, while maintaining and strengthening their socialist essence, from bodies of a directly class nature into bodies of national representation - the Councils of Workers' Deputies. At the same time, the Constitution of 1936 clearly states that the Councils of Working People's Deputies constitute the political basis of the USSR and are the bearers of the full power of the working people (Articles 2, 3). At the same time, the economic basis of the USSR is clearly defined, which consists of the socialist economic system and socialist ownership of the tools and means of production (Articles 4, 5). The Constitution legislated the basic principles of socialism, according to which economic life in the USSR is determined and directed by the state national economic plan in the interests of increasing social wealth, steadily raising the material and cultural level of the working people, strengthening independence and strengthening the country's defense capability. Labor in the USSR is a duty and a matter of honor for every citizen capable of working, according to the principle: “He who does not work, neither shall he eat.” The principle of socialism is implemented in the USSR: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his work” (Articles 11, 12).
Chapter II of the Constitution defines issues of state structure. The USSR is a union state formed on the basis of a voluntary unification of equal Soviet socialist republics (Article 13). The Constitution established the range of issues to be administered by the USSR through its highest bodies of state power and administration and strengthened the guarantees of the sovereignty of the Union republics. In accordance with the experience of Soviet state building, it was recorded that each union republic has its own constitution, taking into account the characteristics of the republic and built in full accordance with the Constitution of the USSR. The union republic retained the right to freely secede from the USSR. The unshakable Soviet principle of the free development of nations was affirmed. For citizens of the USSR, a single union citizenship was still established, under which a citizen of a union republic is a citizen of the USSR (Articles 14, 15, 16, 17, 21). All nations and nationalities inhabiting the USSR were guaranteed autonomy in the form of autonomous Soviet socialist republics, autonomous regions and national districts (Articles 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 94).
Chapters III-IX of the USSR Constitution of 1936 comprehensively regulate the issues of the organization and activities of the highest bodies of state power, government bodies of the USSR, union and autonomous republics, local government bodies, courts and prosecutors.
Chapter X of the Constitution established, on the basis of socialism, the basic rights and obligations of citizens of the USSR and strengthened the guarantees of these rights. Chapter XI of the Constitution defined the principles of the new electoral system. Chapter XII established the symbols of a single union state - coat of arms, flag, capital. Finally, Chapter XIII provided for the procedure for amending the Constitution. A review of the contents of the 1936 USSR Constitution clearly shows that its adoption marked a major milestone in historical development Soviet society and state, was of enormous international significance.
The normative material contained in the 1936 Constitution is unequal in meaning. As the experience of its application over many years has shown, it basically satisfied and satisfies the relations of a socialist society and in modern conditions, which means the possibility of preserving its most important principles in the future - in the new Soviet Constitution. At the same time, the Constitution was subject to many changes.
The greatest number of changes and additions were made to chapters II, III, V and VI, devoted to the state structure, supreme bodies of state power and government bodies.
In Chapter II - State structure - a significant part of the changes and additions is aimed at further expanding the rights of the union republics in the field of managing the national economy, resolving issues of regional and regional administrative-territorial structure, granting the right to the union republics of direct relations with foreign states and republican military organizations formations. In addition, a number of changes and additions were made in connection with the formation, renaming and abolition of individual regions, territories, and autonomous entities.
In Chapter III - Supreme bodies of state power of the USSR - changes and additions concerned increasing the number of Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Union and Chairman of the Council of Nationalities from 2 to 4 people, changing the number of members of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, changing the term for convening the newly elected Supreme Soviet of the USSR (instead of month period established three months), renaming the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, Council of Ministers of the USSR. A number of changes and additions relate to the expansion of the powers of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in terms of: issuing decrees, declaring martial law in certain localities or throughout the entire territory of the USSR, establishing orders, medals and honorary titles of the USSR, establishing military ranks, diplomatic ranks and other special titles.
In Chapter V - Government Bodies of the USSR - the overwhelming majority of changes and additions were related to the composition of the government of the USSR, with the formation, transformation, renaming and abolition of all-Union and Union-Republican ministries and state committees.
In Chapter VI - Government bodies of the Union republics - changes and additions were aimed at expanding the rights of the Union republics in the field of managing the national economy and were associated with the renaming of the councils of people's commissars of the union republics into councils of ministers of the republics.
Relatively a small amount of amendments and additions were made to chapters IV, VII, VIII, IX, X and XI. They are devoted to the highest bodies of state power of the union and autonomous republics, local authorities, the court and prosecutor's office, the rights and responsibilities of citizens and the electoral system.
In Chapter VII - Supreme bodies of state power of the autonomous Soviet socialist republics, and in Chapter VIII - Local bodies of state power - certain editorial changes and clarifications were made in connection with the change in the name of government bodies.
In Chapter IX - Court and Prosecutor's Office - changes and additions were made in connection with the adoption of the new "Regulations on the Supreme Court of the USSR", which significantly increased the role of the judicial bodies of the Union republics in the field of judicial supervision. The regulations stipulate that the Supreme Court of the USSR will henceforth include ex officio chairmen of the supreme courts of the union republics.
This chapter reflects the law "On Changing the Procedure for Elections of People's Courts", according to which the term of office of people's judges was increased from 3 to 5 years, established new order elections of people's assessors and their term of office was reduced from 3 to 2 years, and a change was made in connection with the renaming of the Prosecutor of the USSR into the Prosecutor General of the USSR.
In Chapter X -- Fundamental rights and duties of citizens -- changes and additions were made in connection with the adoption of the law "On the completion of the transfer in 1960 of all workers and employees to a seven- and six-hour working day", the implementation of a universal seven-year, and then a universal compulsory eight-year education, abolition of tuition fees in senior secondary schools, in secondary special schools and; higher educational institutions, increasing wages for some categories of workers and employees, improving pensions for workers, strengthening state assistance to large and single mothers. Clarifications have been made in connection with the change in the name of the Communist Party adopted at the 19th Congress.
Chapter XI - Electoral System - reflected the decree "On the age limit for citizens of the USSR elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR", which raised the age limit for citizens elected to the highest body of state power of the USSR Union from 18 to 23 years. This chapter has also been amended in connection with the abolition of the use of deprivation of voting rights by court as a measure of criminal punishment and some others.
The implementation of the provisions of the 1936 Constitution was affected by the consequences of the cult of personality. Pursuing a course for the further development of socialist democracy, the party at the 20th Congress decisively condemned the personality cult of Stalin, which was expressed in the exaltation of the role of one person, alien to the spirit of Marxism-Leninism, in the deviation from the Leninist principle of collectivity of leadership, in unjustified repressions and other violations of socialist legality that caused damage to our society. These perversions, despite their seriousness, did not change the nature of socialist society, did not shake the foundations of socialism.
The party has implemented measures to overcome the consequences of the cult of personality in all areas of party, state and ideological work, and to comply with Leninist norms and principles of party life. The rights of union republics, territories and regions in resolving issues of economic and cultural development, as well as the rights of enterprise managers, were expanded. All this led to the intensification of socio-political and spiritual life in the country, the improvement of the work of all parts of the party, Soviet and economic apparatus. The Soviet social and state system became even stronger and developed, the socio-political and ideological unity of workers, peasants, and intelligentsia became stronger, the friendship of the peoples of the Soviet Union and their unity around the Leninist Party became even closer.
Conclusion: The Constitution of the USSR of 1936 has great historical and international significance as the first constitution of victorious socialism. After the Second World War, socialist-type constitutions were adopted and are in force in the countries of the world socialist system. Thus, a constitution of the socialist type is a phenomenon of an international nature, it is a conquest of the working masses, which has world-historical significance.
Introduction
In history Russian Federation There are five constitutions - 1918, 1925, 1936, 1978, respectively, and the current Constitution of 1993.
The validity periods of the previous constitutions of the RSFSR were successively 7, 12, over 40 and 15 years, which indicates, given the complex historical path development of Russia, in general about the relative stability of constitutions.
The adoption of each of them marked significant changes in the life of society, summed up the previous development, determined, as a rule, a qualitatively new stage in the history of the state, reflected the approval of new concepts or the deepening and improvement of previous ones.
The science constitutional law explores the features of each constitution from the standpoint of its role as the main source of the branch of law of the same name, the formation and development of constitutional and legal institutions in it, and the essence of the concepts reflected in it.
Constitution of the USSR 1936
In 1936, a new Constitution of the USSR was adopted, completing a large stage of state construction. The main thing in developing the project was to bring the Constitution into line with the new socio-economic reality and to consolidate the principle of equal political rights of all citizens.
In the fall of 1935, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR created a Constitutional Commission chaired by I.V. Stalin and 12 subcommittees. On June 12, 1936, the draft Constitution was published and discussed for six months at all levels - from meetings of workers at enterprises to republican congresses of Soviets. More than half of the adult population took part in the discussion; the commission received 154 thousand proposals, amendments, and additions.
On November 25, 1936, the Extraordinary VIII Congress of Soviets of the USSR began consideration of the project. The editorial commission adopted 47 amendments and additions to more than 30 articles. Important additions concerned the Council of Nationalities (direct elections, equal number of deputies with the Council of the Union). On December 5, 1936, by article-by-article voting, and then as a whole, the draft Constitution of the USSR was unanimously approved by the congress.
The Constitution renamed the Councils of Workers', Peasants' and Red Army Deputies into the Councils of Workers' Deputies and abolished restrictions on voting rights for persons who had in the past exploited the labor of others.
The Constitution of the USSR of 1936 did not contain program provisions. It consisted of 13 chapters, including 146 articles. Chapter 1 asserted the existence of two friendly classes in the USSR: workers and peasants. The political basis of the USSR is the Soviets of Working People's Deputies, and the economic basis is the socialist economic system and socialist ownership of the tools and means of production. The Constitution provided for two forms of socialist property - state (national property) and collective farm-cooperative property. Land, its subsoil, water, forests, plants, factories, mines, mines, railway, water and air transport, banks, communications, large agricultural enterprises organized by the state (state farms, MTS, etc.), as well as public utilities and The main housing stock in cities is state property, i.e. national property. The property of collective farms and cooperative organizations consists of public enterprises in collective farms and cooperative organizations with their living and dead equipment, products produced by collective farms and cooperative organizations, and public buildings. The land was assigned to collective farms for free and indefinite use, i.e. forever.
The Constitution guaranteed legal protection of personal property of citizens of the USSR acquired with labor income and savings, a residential building and subsidiary household, items household and everyday life, personal consumption, as well as the right to inherit personal property. The Constitution approved the provision that the economic life of the country is regulated by the state national economic plan. The Constitution enshrined the principle of labor and distribution: “from each according to his ability, to each according to his work.”
Chapter II of the Constitution, “Government,” enshrined the principles of federalism, the voluntary association of equal union republics, and delineated the competence of the Union and union republics. The following areas were under the jurisdiction of the USSR: international relations and foreign trade, issues of war and peace; the adoption of new republics into the USSR; control over the implementation of the Constitution of the USSR; approval of changes in borders between union republics; approval of the formation of new territories, regions and autonomous republics within the union republics; organization of the defense of the USSR and leadership of all armed forces of the USSR; state security; national economic planning of the USSR, approval of the unified state budget of the USSR, as well as taxes and income received for the formation of all budgets: management of banks, the monetary and credit system, institutions and enterprises of national importance, transport and communications; establishing the basic principles of land use, education and health care; legislation on labor, judicial system and legal proceedings, union citizenship, marriage and family, criminal and civil codes; publication of all-Union acts of amnesty. There is an increasing trend towards expanding the rights of the Union.
Each union republic had its own Constitution, which was in accordance with the Constitution of the USSR. Each republic retained the right to freely secede from the USSR; the territory of the union republics could not be changed without their consent. The Constitution established the priority of union laws over the laws of union republics. A single union citizenship was established, every citizen of the union republic was a citizen of the USSR.
Chapters III-VIII examine the system of government and management bodies. The principle of the supremacy of representative bodies of state power, which form government bodies accountable and controlled by them, has been approved. The supreme authority in the USSR was the Supreme Soviet of the USSR; it exclusively exercised legislative power. Laws were considered adopted if they received a simple majority of votes in both chambers. The Council of the Union was elected according to the norm - 1 deputy per 300 thousand population. The Council of Nationalities elected according to the norm from each union republic 25 deputies, from the autonomous republic 2, from the autonomous region 5 and from the national district 1 deputy. The Constitution established the sessional order of work of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (two sessions per year, not counting extraordinary ones).
The highest authority during the period between sessions of the USSR Supreme Council was the Presidium, accountable to it, elected at a joint meeting of both chambers. He interpreted the laws of the USSR, issued decrees, held a referendum on his own initiative or at the request of one of the union republics; canceled the decisions of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Council of People's Commissars of the union republics in case of their non-compliance with the law; in the period between sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, dismissed and appointed people's commissars of the USSR with subsequent approval by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR; awarded orders and awarded honorary titles of the USSR; exercised the right of pardon; appointed and replaced the high command of the USSR Armed Forces; during the period between sessions of the USSR Supreme Council declared a state of war; declared general and partial mobilization; ratified international treaties; appointed and recalled authorized representatives of the USSR in foreign countries.
The Government of the USSR (Sovnarkom), formed by the USSR Armed Forces, was the highest executive and administrative body of state power. He united and directed the work of 8 all-Union People's Commissariats: defense, foreign affairs, foreign trade, railways, communications, water transport, heavy and defense industry, and 10 Union-Republican People's Commissariats: food, light, forestry, agriculture, grain and livestock state farms , finance, internal affairs, domestic trade, justice and health care.
Similar to the supreme bodies of power and administration of the USSR, the system of supreme bodies of power and administration of the union and autonomous republics was built. Local government bodies were the Councils of Workers' Deputies, elected for a period of 2 years. The executive and administrative bodies of the Soviets were the executive committees elected by them. They were accountable both to the Council that elected them and to the executive body of the higher Council.
In Chapter IX of the Constitution “Judge Prosecutor's Office” it was determined that justice in the USSR is carried out by the Supreme Court of the USSR, the Supreme Courts of the Union Republics, regional and regional courts, courts of autonomous republics and autonomous regions, district courts, special courts USSR, created by resolution of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, people's courts.
Chapter X established the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens of the USSR: the right to work; for rest: for financial support in old age, as well as in case of illness and loss of ability to work; right to education; equality of rights for citizens of the USSR regardless of gender, nationality and race; freedom of conscience, speech, press, rallies and meetings, street processions and demonstrations, personal inviolability, home, privacy of correspondence, the right of citizens of the USSR to associate in public organizations: trade unions, cooperative associations, youth organizations, sports and defense organizations, cultural, technical and scientific societies. In the Constitution of the USSR of 1936, Art. 126, the leading role of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was established (“the leading core of all workers’ organizations, both public and state”).
During 1937, on the basis of the USSR Constitution of 1936, the constitutions of the union republics were adopted. The Constitution of the RSFSR was approved by the XVII All-Russian Congress of Soviets on January 21, 1937.
The Constitution of the RSFSR established the administrative-territorial division of the republic. Each autonomous republic had its own constitution, which took into account its characteristics and corresponded to the Constitutions of the RSFSR and the USSR.
For its time, the 1936 USSR Constitution was the most democratic constitution in the world. To what extent its provisions have been implemented in political practice is another question. Constitutions always, to one degree or another, serve as a declared ideal, a guideline, and the adoption of precisely those declarations, and not others, is, of course, important. In general, the political development of the USSR after the emergency period of the Great Patriotic War and the restoration of the national economy corresponded to the guidelines set by the Constitution of 1936 - within the framework of precisely the type of society that the USSR was.
