Joseph Stalin

====Ideological and foreign affairs====
{{see also|1931 Prussian Landtag referendum||Moscow Trials|Stalin's cult of personality}}
In 1935–36, Stalin oversaw a new constitution; its dramatic liberal features were designed as propaganda weapons, for all power rested in the hands of Stalin and his Politburo.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=319}} He declared that "socialism, which is the first phase of communism, has basically been achieved in this country".{{sfn|Service|2004|p=319}} In 1938, ''[[The History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)]]'', colloquially known as the ''Short Course'', was released;{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=212|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=552–443|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=361}} biographer Robert Conquest later referred to it as the "central text of Stalinism".{{sfn|Conquest|1991|p=212}} A number of authorised Stalin biographies were also published,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=361}} although Stalin generally wanted to be portrayed as the embodiment of the Communist Party rather than have his life story explored.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=362}} During the later 1930s, Stalin placed "a few limits on the worship of his own greatness".{{sfn|Service|2004|p=362}} By 1938, Stalin's inner circle had gained a degree of stability, containing the personalities who would remain there until Stalin's death.{{sfn|Conquest|1991|p=216}}

[[File:Soviet armor in the spanish civil war.png|thumb|Review of Soviet armoured fighting vehicles used to equip the [[Republican People's Army]] during the [[Spanish Civil War]]]]
Seeking improved international relations, in 1934 the Soviet Union secured membership of the [[League of Nations]], from which it had previously been excluded.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=386}} Stalin initiated confidential communications with Hitler in October 1933, shortly after the latter came to power in Germany.{{sfn|Conquest|1991|p=217}} Stalin admired Hitler, particularly his manoeuvres to remove rivals within the [[Nazi Party]] in the [[Night of the Long Knives]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=176|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2003|2p=116|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=340}} Stalin nevertheless recognised the threat posed by fascism and sought to establish better links with the [[liberal democracies]] of Western Europe;{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=218|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=123, 135}} in May 1935, the Soviets signed a [[Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance|treaty of mutual assistance]] with France and Czechoslovakia.{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=135}} At the Communist International's [[Seventh World Congress of the Comintern|7th Congress]], held in July–August 1935, the Soviet government encouraged Marxist-Leninists to unite with other leftists as part of a [[popular front]] against fascism.{{sfnm|1a1=Haslam|1y=1979|1pp=682–683|2a1=Conquest|2y=1991|2p=218|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=385|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=135}} In turn, the anti-communist governments of [[Nazi Germany]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Fascist Italy]], and [[Imperial Japan]] signed the [[Anti-Comintern Pact]] of 1936.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=392|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=154}}

When the [[Spanish Civil War]] broke out in July 1936, the Soviets sent 648 aircraft and 407 tanks to the left-wing [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican faction]]; these were accompanied by 3,000 Soviet troops and 42,000 members of the [[International Brigades]] set up by the Communist International.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=219|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=387}} Stalin took a strong personal involvement in the Spanish situation.{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=154}} Germany and Italy backed the [[Nationalist faction]], which was ultimately victorious in March 1939.{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=387, 389}} With the outbreak of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] in July 1937, the Soviet Union and China signed a [[Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact|non-aggression pact]] the following August.{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=156}} Stalin aided the [[Chinese Communist Party]] as they had suspended their [[Chinese civil war|civil war]] with the [[National Revolutionary Army|Kuomintang]] (KMT) nationalists and formed the desired [[Second United Front|United Front]] against Japanese aggression.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=392}}