In 1936, Stalin unveiled a new constitution for the USSR, hailed as the most democratic in the world. It guaranteed freedom of speech, press, assembly, and the right to work—on paper. But as the Great Terror began just months later, the constitution became a propaganda tool masking one of history's deadliest purges. This episode explores the drafting process, the public spectacle of the 'nationwide discussion,' and the stark contrast between the document's promises and the Gulag reality. We examine key figures like Nikolai Bukharin, who helped write the constitution only to be executed under it, and the show trials that made a mockery of its legal guarantees. What did ordinary Soviets think? How did Western observers react? And why did Stalin bother with a constitution at all?
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