ABSTRACT
In the 1920s, as the new Soviet state appeared to have retreated from an active revolutionary path to ‘socialism in one country’, the Bolshevik Party also adopted a less ideological approach in its relations with the rest of the world. Lenin, ever the practical leader, became convinced that socialist revolution would not break out in the developed West in the near future, and realized that his government required normal relations with the Western world to survive. Not only were good relations important for national security, but the economy also required trade with the Western industrial countries.
