China was set on Wednesday to hold a military spectacle that will rumble through the ceremonial heart of the capital, featuring fighter jets, tanks, and the latest in Chinese military technology in the country’s most ambitious display of power and diplomatic reach in years.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran will join China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in a rare gathering of autocrats who have positioned themselves in opposition to the U.S.-led world order.

The parade, which honors the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, is the highlight of a weekslong campaign by the ruling Communist Party to stoke nationalism, recast China’s role in that conflict, and project the party as the nation’s savior against a foreign aggressor, Imperial Japan.

The evoking of wartime memories serves to rally domestic Chinese support in the face of economic uncertainty and rising tensions with the United States over trade and other disputes.

“This great victory fully demonstrates that the people are the creators of history and the true heroes, that the Chinese nation possesses tenacious vitality and extraordinary creativity, and that the Communist Party of China is the most reliable backbone of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation,” the party’s mouthpiece, People’s Daily, said in an editorial on Wednesday.

China and Russia have echoed each other’s version of World War II and the role their countries played in ending it.