International relations would normally be considered a subject peripheral to the concerns of many ordinary people; however, in this period of acute international tension, the external relations of the USSR with other powers were at the centre of everyday interest. With Hitler's seizure of power in 1933, Soviet foreign policy underwent a metamorphosis, symbolised by the USSR's admission to the League of Nations in September 1934, the adoption of a policy of collective security, and increasingly amicable relationships with the non-fascist capitalist powers, including France with whom the USSR signed a pact in May 1935. At the same time, Comintern abandoned its isolationist stance, advocating instead a ‘popular front’. While espousing anti-fascism, and backing the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union none the less continued to make overtures to Germany at the end of the 1930s, which culminated in a pact of non-aggression. For ordinary people, the tension in Europe and the Far East made this period one of constant preparation for and expectation of war. For those dissatisfied with the regime, war represented possible liberation from the Soviet yoke, and Hitler and fascist policies evidently had adherents. However, others were categorically opposed to the dictator, and the volte-face of the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact left them shocked and confused. The USSR's expansionist policies in Poland, the Baltic states, and Finland also met with less than universal approval, while some people objected to being used as cannon-fodder for the military adventures of those in power.