Evolution of the Principle of Internationalism in Soviet Constitutions

The Soviet Constitution of July 10, 1918, possessed a unique feature in the panorama of the constitutional charters of the last two centuries: the proclamation of the principle of internationalism. Even if that constitutional charter remained ineffective, especially in the project of political and economic emancipation of the entire society - imitated by the Jacobin charter of 1793, from which it was inspired - the principle of internationalism was not only of great significance (given that the First World War produced a hardening of borders) but also produced considerable practical effects. In fact, it allowed many fugitives who had sought refuge in Soviet Russia to escape and enjoy the political rights enjoyed by Russian citizens. It prohibited any discrimination and granted the right to vote and stand for election to the soviets, even to persons without residence or nationality. However, «class» internationalism was abandoned with Stalinism, with its repressions and closures, and then with the successive Soviet Constitutions, which over the decades erased the revolutionary principles and practices of the origins. Despite the fate of this principle in the subsequent Soviet constitutional evolution (examined here in comparative form), it remains an interesting topic of inquiry and a point of reference for contemporary migration studies.

Soviet Constitutions, Soviet Russia, internationalism, comparative studies, migrations