ABSTRACT
In November 1936, the Supreme Soviet gathered for an extra session to approve the country’s new constitution, which established that the Soviet Union was a developed socialist state where antagonism between classes no longer existed. The first part of the road to Communist Utopia had now been successfully completed. The constitution contained regulations on the government’s accountability to parliament and established that parliament – the Supreme Soviet – was to be a federal assembly with two chambers, directly elected by the people. It also provided a supreme court, civil rights for ‘alien social elements’ (hitherto excluded from suffrage) and equality for women. In several ways, the constitution of 1936 signaled a return to normality after the long endurance of total mobilization during the five-year plans. The struggle for industrialization had been won, the remnants of the old society had been defeated and daily life promised to become easier.1
