In the report on the work of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party Stalin outlined important aspects of the foreign policy of the USSR, particularly its disappointment with the western democracies and their failure to adopt the policy of collective security[1] advocated by Soviet foreign minister Maxim Litvinov.
Shortly after this, Stalin dismissed Litvinov and appointed Vyacheslav Molotov, a move that led to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and a temporary understanding with Nazi Germany.
The Congress sanctioned the new Party's statute which was supposed to reflect changes in the class structure of the Soviet society.
A unified set of conditions for entry in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was implemented, as well as a one-year probation period.
The division into separate categories depending on each individual's social class origin was abolished.