Section Nine, "Russia and the West Interact," illustrated the integration of the Russian Empire into the western polity of nations in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars. In reaching this section, the visitor had come full circle both physically and figuratively, experiencing through the materials displayed a sense of the dramatic transition from 15th century Muscovy to the europeanized Russia of the 19th century. Just before the visitor exited Gottesman Hall, a parting "coda" panel underscored the link between the opening of Russia to the world and its opening to philosophies that were inimical to an autocratic system and that would ultimately sweep it away in 1917.