Red Constitution

After the seizure of power in the southern part of Finland on 27 January 1918, the Reds proclaimed the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic. In a constitutional draft presented on 23 February 1918, the Finnish People's Delegation - that is, the government of the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic – provided the guidelines to run the country.

This draft constitution - never implemented because of the Reds’ defeat in May 1918 - has, nevertheless, a great historical and theoretical importance. It is the first attempt to translate into juridical form the political principles of the proletarian revolution.

This first Marxist constitutional experiment however acknowledged democratic principles of bourgeois nature. For instance, it recognized the powers of a legislative assembly elected by direct, equal and universal suffrage of all Finnish citizens over the age of 20. The constitution itself had to be subjected to a general vote, after the victory of the Red Guards.

The people could intervene extensively in the legislative, administrative and judicial activity, but the classic division of powers was maintained. The executive organ of the People's Commissariat was to be controlled and elected every three years by the Parliamentary Assembly. There was no talk of dictatorship of the proletariat, abolition of classes and socialization of land.

In conclusion, the Finnish People's Delegation acknowledged that the implementation of social and economic content of the Marxist doctrine did not necessarily require constitutional arrangements antithetical to the cultural identity of the country.

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Written by Modestino Carbone