This module examines the major political, economic, social and cultural transformations which took place in Russia from the first revolution until the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939. We will focus on the causes and consequences of the 1905 Revolution, the impact of World War I, the 1917 revolutions which brought the Bolsheviks to power, the Civil War, Lenin's New Economic Policy, the triumph of Stalin, the construction of the planned economy, and the transformation of the Soviet Union from an international outcast into a great European power. Among the themes to be addressed are the extent to which tsarism was capable of reform, the effects of political and economic change on society and culture, the reasons for the Bolsheviks' success in taking and retaining power, why Stalin's version of socialism won out in the Soviet Union, the impact of the Five-Year Plans and collectivization on Soviet society, the Soviet Union's role in international relations in the interwar period and its efforts to forge a 'collective security' pact with the Western democracies.