Really interesting to see how differently the Russian social system evolved not just from her Western neighbors but also uniquely amongst regions that were invaded by Steppe people; whereas in essentially every other case the Nomadic tribes would defeat the locals and then adopt their system of government... Russia decided to adopt a more Mongol system of society that remained agrarian instead of developing middle classes like what happened in the West.
That had major consequences that allowed Russia to develop more towards authoritarianism than liberty as you saw in the West, as it meant the rulers truly ruled absolutely and didn't have powerful classes bellow them to question their authority. It might actually be the pinnacle of human greed and lust for power dictating a society, even above the Gilded Age or the life of our monarchs further west.