French was established as the Kremlin's court language in the late 17th century under the reign of Peter the Great. In the early years of Peter's rule he made a commitment to modernize Russia and shake off the remains of Russian medieval culture. Along with French, Western clothing and clean shaven faces became mandatory for the entire Russia court as wearing a beard had been a closely held and long standing noble tradition. The Boyers (nobles) were even required to pay a beard tax because of their refusal to cooperate.

Peter the Great in a lot of ways established Russia as the 'geopolitical player' we know today. Besides just modernizing his court/ government, he pursued an expansionary foreign policy. When Peter took the throne, Russia's only port was Arkhangelsk on the coast of the Arctic sea. Peter fought the Great Northern War against Sweden to gain access to the Baltic and a war against the Ottoman's in an attempt to secure a Black Sea port.

Hope this has been helpful, my degree is in Modern Russian history so my knowledge of this time period is quite limited. I'm sure someone more familiar with Imperial Russia would know far more details.