Soviet Constitution of 1936 codifies NKAO and Nakhichevan
Stalin’s 1936 Soviet Constitution dissolved the Transcaucasian federation and listed Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia as Union republics. It also codified Nakhichevan ASSR and NKAO inside Soviet Azerbaijan, hardening the 1921–23 territorial settlement.
Account
Background
From 1922 to 1936 Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia were grouped inside the Transcaucasian SFSR. The major territorial decisions over Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan had already been made, but the constitutional architecture was still changing.
Constitutional settlement
The 1936 constitution made the three republics direct Union republics and preserved Nakhichevan ASSR and NKAO within Soviet Azerbaijan. This gave the earlier Kavbiuro and NKAO formation decisions their mature constitutional form.
For Armenians, the constitution closed another door for revising Karabakh's status. For Azerbaijan, it became part of the legal chain from Soviet internal borders to post-Soviet territorial integrity. Soviet federalism recognised national territories while freezing disputes inside them editorial.
Further reading
- Arsène Saparov, From Conflict to Autonomy in the Caucasus: The Soviet Union and the Making of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh, 2014
- Thomas de Waal, Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War, 2003
- Central Statistical Administration, USSR, All-Union Soviet Census of 1926, 1926