Ideology and the Constitution: Freedom of National Development of Peoples

The paper examines the provisions of the first Constitution of the USSR, approved in its final version on January 31, 1924, from the point of view of Marxist‑Leninist ideology. The author concludes that the basic law found the necessary balance between centralization, republican autonomy, and the principles of socialist federalism. Many provisions of the document can be called ideological. On the one hand, the law‑maker of the first Soviet years blames the camp of capitalist countries for national hostility or colonial slavery, chauvinism or imperialist atrocities. On the other hand, the Soviet government, which was international in its class nature, was supposed to be entrusted with the high mission of uniting fraternal peoples and restoring the national economy by the forces of a single socialist family under the banner of the proletarian dictatorship. The state aimed to unite the workers of various political and economic systems around the globe under the auspices of the world socialist Soviets. Numerous research publications of prominent Bolsheviks on the problems of the national question, based on the fundamental works by K. Marx, F. Engels, K. Kautsky, acted as the theoretical basis for the declarative provisions of the first Constitution of the USSR. Based on the protocol documents of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (b), the author notes the significant role of Stalin’s personal administrative hobby in the development of historical and legal events. Nevertheless, the General Secretary of the party did not dare to go against the principles of democratic centralism or the International supported by Vladimir Lenin. The development of the terminology of the nation and the advantages of various ways of voluntary unification of peoples, the comparison of models of cultural‑national or regional autonomizations in the works of the Bolsheviks play a great role.

1. Isaev IA. History of the State and Law of Russia. Moscow: Norma Publ.; 2024. (In Russ.).

2. Isaev IA, Rumyantseva VG. The Union Idea: Prerequisites and Arguments (to the 100th Anniversary of the Formation of the USSR). Voprosy istorii. 2022;11(2):46-51. (In Russ.).

3. Kautsky K. Nationality and internationality. In: Semkovskiy S (ed.). National Problems. 2nd ed. Moscow: Librocom Publ.; 2011. (In Russ.).

4. Lenin VI. A note to L. B. Kamenev on the struggle against the Great Power Chauvinism. The Complete Works. Vol. 45. Moscow: State Publishing House of Political Literature; 1964. (In Russ.).

5. Lenin VI. Critical Notes on the national question. The Complete Works. 5th ed. Vol. 24. Moscow: State Publishing House of Political Literature; 1961. (In Russ.).

6. Marx K, Engels F. Manifesto of the Communist Party. In: Ryazanov D (ed.). Works. Vol. 5. Moscow: State Publishing House; 1929. (In Russ.).

7. Morozova LA. Theory of state and law. 6th ed. Moscow: Norma: Infra-M Publ.; 2017. (In Russ.).

8. Korablev YuI (ed.). Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: A Collection of Documents. Moscow: Nauka Publ.; 1972. (In Russ.).

9. Radko TN. On the ideological function of law. Bulletin of Saratov State Law Academy. 2013;4(93):72-78. (In Russ.).

10. Stalin IV. Marxism and the national question. Works. Vol. 2. Moscow: State Publishing House of Political Literature; 1954. (In Russ.).

11. Engels F. The role of violence in history. In: Adoratskiy V (ed.). Works. Vol. 16. Part 1. Moscow: Party Publishing House of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b); 1937.