Any accent is fine
For the whole XVIII century, the tsar completely controlled any political and social aspect of russian society, without any parlamentar control. At least until 1860, it wasn't allowed any kind of political opposition.
The Russian Empire, in meanwhile, continued to expand itself, until a point that it became so wide that it spread from Finland to a portion of Japan.
Many were the trouble of the Empire: first, the too many population with different languages and tradition had to stay together obeying to an only sovereign; and second, the Empire was technologically backward. More than 90% were farmers, and the rest was formed by a tiny portion of rich bourgeoise and church leaders that owned the majority of the wealth.
From 1870, lots of efforts were made to start an industrial revolution inside the Empire. Between 1885 and 1898, the industrial production grew of 400%. Despite that, it remained a surface phenomenon, but still it managed to reduce the gap between the Occident.