Utpal Jivrajani: Just published an informative work.

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Just published an informative work.

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{{Short description|Upper house of the USSR legislature}}
{{confuse|Soviet of Nationalities (Supreme Soviet of Russia)}}
{{Use British English}}{{Use dmy dates}}
{{citations needed}}
{{Infobox legislature
| name = Soviet of Nationalities
| native_name = Совет Национальностей
| legislature = Legislative body in the [[Soviet Union]]
| house_type = [[Upper house]]
| body = Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union
| coa_pic = Coat of arms of the Soviet Union 1.svg
| coa_res = 150px
| background_color = {{party color|Communist Party of the Soviet Union}}
| leader1_type = [[List of Chairmen of the Soviet of Nationalities|Chairman]]
| leader1 = [[Rafik Nishanov]] (last)
| members =
| chambers =
| established = 1938
| preceded_by = [[Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union|Congress of Soviets]]
| disbanded = 21 October 1991
| succeeded_by = {{ill|Soviet of Republics|ru|Совет Республик Верховного Совета СССР|lt=Soviet of the Republics}} (in USSR) [[Soviet of Nationalities (Supreme Soviet of Russia)|Soviet of Nationalities]] (in Russia) [[CIS Interparliamentary Assembly]]
| session_room = Kremlin administration building 14.jpg
| meeting_place = [[Kremlin Presidium]], [[Moscow Kremlin]]
|voting_system1 = [[Direct election|Direct]] [[show election]]s (until 1989) [[Indirect election|Elected]] by the [[Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR]] (from 1989)
| structure1 = File:Soviet of Nationalities (1984-1989).svg
| structure1_res = 250px
| political_groups1 = Composition after the 1984 election: {{Color box|{{party color|Communist Party of the Soviet Union}}|border=silver}} [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (521) 
{{Color box|00000|border=silver}} Independents (229)
|last_election1 =[[1984 Soviet Union legislative election]]
}}
{{Soviet Union sidebar}}
The '''Soviet of Nationalities''' ({{lang-ru|Совет Национальностей}}, ''Sovyet Natsionalnostey''<ref>{{lang-uk|Раду Національностей}}; {{lang-be|Савет Нацыянальнасцей}}; {{lang-lt|Tautybių Taryba}}; {{lang-ro|Sovietul Naționalităților}} ([[Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet|Moldovan Cyrillic]]: Советул Националитэцилор); {{lang-lv|Tautību Padome}}; {{lang-tk|Миллетлер Совети}}; {{lang-et|Rahvuste Nõukogu}}</ref>) was the [[Upper house|upper]] [[chambers of parliament|chamber]] of the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Supreme Soviet]] of the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]], elected on the basis of [[Universal suffrage|universal]], equal and [[Direct election|direct]] [[suffrage]] by [[secret ballot]] in accordance with the principles of [[Soviet democracy]]. Until [[Demokratizatsiya (Soviet Union)|democratization]] in the late-1980s, however, only a single candidate nominated by the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] was permitted to stand for election in each [[constituency]]. It was briefly succeeded by the '''Soviet of the Republics''' from October to December of 1991. As opposed to the [[Soviet of the Union]], the Soviet of Nationalities was composed of the nationalities of the Soviet Union, which in turn followed [[National delimitation in the Soviet Union|administrative division]] rather than being a representation of ethnic groups.

==Background{{anchor|Soviet of Nationalities prior to 1938}}==
Prior to the creation of the Supreme Soviet in 1938 by the [[1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union|Soviet Constitution of 1936]], the Soviet of Nationalities was one of the bodies that formed the [[Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union]], the other being the [[Soviet of the Union]]. Created by the [[1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union|1924 Constitution]] to represent the [[National delimitation in the Soviet Union|national-territorial units]] of the Soviet Union in 1924, the Soviet of Nationalities included 5 delegates from union-level republics and [[Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union|ASSRs]] and 1 delegate from each [[Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union|autonomous oblast]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Martin, Terry (Terry Dean)|title=The affirmative action empire : nations and nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923-1939|isbn=978-1-5017-1332-3|location=Ithaca|pages=247|oclc=606578236}}</ref>

==History==
The Soviet of the Nationalities was formed on the basis of equal representation of all the [[Republics of the Soviet Union]] (32 deputies from each republic, excluding other autonomous units inside that republic which sent in separate members), [[Autonomous republics of the Soviet Union|autonomous republic]]s (11 deputies from each republic), [[Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union|autonomous oblast]]s (five deputies from each [[oblast]]), and national districts (one deputy from each [[district]]). As a result, the largest republic, the [[Russian SFSR]] with a population of 147 million, and the smallest republic, the [[Estonian SSR]] with a population of about 1.5 million, got 32 deputies each. [[Russians]] as an ethnic group made up more than half of the population of the Soviet Union, but the Soviet of Nationalities did not represent ethnic groups, it represented the different nationalities as expressed by the republics and various autonomous units of the Soviet Union. This electoral system seriously diminished representation of larger ethnic groups in favor of the smaller ethnic groups of the Soviet Union, with the Russians being most underrepresented.{{clarify}}{{cn}}

The Soviet of Nationalities enjoyed the same rights as the [[Soviet of the Union]] in the area of [[legislative]] initiative and in resolving other issues inside the [[Jurisdiction|competence]] of the Soviet Union. In practice, until 1989, it did little more than approve decisions already made by the top leadership of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]. After the [[Soviet Union legislative election, 1989|1989 elections]]–the first, and as it turned out, only, free elections ever held in the Soviet Union–the Soviet of Nationalities acquired a much greater role, and was the scene of many lively debates.

The Soviet of Nationalities elected a [[chairman]] (who would lead the sessions of the chamber), his four deputies, and permanent [[committee|commission]]s: Mandate Commission, Commission on Legislative Suppositions, [[Budget]] Planning Commission, [[Foreign Affairs]] Commission, Youth Affairs Commission, Industry Commission, Transportation and Communications Commission, Construction and Industry of [[Building Materials]] Commission, [[Agricultural]] Commission, [[Consumer goods|Consumer Goods]] Commission, [[Public Education]] Commission, Science and Culture Commission, Trade Commission, Consumer Service and Municipal Economy Commission, [[Natural environment|Environment]]al Commission.

The presidium of the Soviet of Nationalities "ceased all noticeable work at the end of 1937", but it did "survive as the sole central political institution formally devoted to the nationalities question".<ref>Terry Martin, ''The Affirmative Action Empire: Nations and Nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923-1939'' (Cornell University Press, 2001: {{ISBN|0-8014-8677-7}}), p. 412.</ref>

In 1989, it was reduced to 271 deputies elected by the [[Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union|Congress of People's Deputies]]. Its deputies were elected representing national-territorial electoral districts and public organizations.

==Soviet of the Republics==
The Soviet of the Republics — the upper chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, created on the basis of the USSR Law of 5 September 1991 "On the bodies of state power and administration of the USSR in the transition period",<ref name="sssr.su">[http://sssr.su/zopp.html Закон СССР от 5 сентября 1991 года № 2392-I «Об органах государственной власти и управления Союза ССР в переходный период»]</ref> however, not provided for by the Constitution of the USSR. The first meeting of the new chamber took place on 21 October. [[Anuarbek Alimzhanov]], a deputy from Kazakhstan, was elected chairman of the chamber.<ref>[https://www.rusempire.ru/sssr/vysshie-zakonodat-ov-rsfsr-sssr/vysshie-zakonod-ov-sssr/448-s-ezd-narodnykh-deputatov-sssr-i-verkhovnyj-sovet-sssr.html Съезд народных депутатов СССР и Верховный Совет СССР]</ref><ref>[http://www.knowbysight.info/1_sssr/09011.asp Высшие органы государственной власти СССР]</ref>

The Council of Republics consisted of 20 deputies from each union republic from among the people's deputies of the USSR and union republics, delegated by the highest bodies of state power of these republics. Taking into account the federal structure of the RSFSR, it had 52 deputies in the Council of Republics.<ref name="sssr.su" />

Other union republics, which include republics and autonomous formations, additionally delegated to the Council of Republics one deputy from each republic and autonomy. In order to ensure the equality of the republics when voting in the Council of Republics, each union republic had one vote.<ref name="sssr.su" />

The Council of Republics made decisions on the organization and procedure for the activities of union bodies, ratifies and denounces international treaties.<ref name="sssr.su" />

On 26 December 1991 the Soviet of the Republics adopted a resolution declaring that the Soviet Union [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|no longer existed]] as a functioning state and voted both itself and the Soviet Union out of existence. The Soviet of the Union had effectively been dissolved two weeks earlier when Russia unilaterally recalled its deputies, leaving it without a quorum. This declaration by the Soviet of the Republics was thus the final legal step in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

==See also==
*[[Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities]]
*[[Korenizatsiya]]
*[[Soviet of Nationalities (Supreme Soviet of Russia)|Soviet of Nationalities of the Russian SFSR]]
*[[Chamber of Nations (Czechoslovakia)|Chamber of Nations of the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly]]
*[[1977 Soviet Constitution]]
*[[1936 Soviet Constitution]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soviet Of Nationalities}}
[[Category:Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Government of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Historical legislatures]]
[[Category:1938 establishments in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1991 disestablishments in the Soviet Union]]

Soviet of Nationalities - Revision history

Utpal Jivrajani: Just published an informative work.