I have just recently played a russia campaign starting 1900, you will notice the "Non-industrialized Nation Debuff (-70% construction speed)" which basically doesnt let u build anything, and there is nothiing in ur power to change that, no choices or Focuses that influence this debuff. Here my views and tipps on how to maneuver around it;

Yes while the whole non-industrialized debuff is enoying, its still very doable to create a formidable nation.

1. This debuff will go away only after 1910 (not sure when exactly, i just noticed it since i always kept an eye on the debuff and what might influence it).


2. Focus on expanding in the scripted wars (China), there u willl get some early Military Factories. Yes u will have alot of Factories which will need repairs, at around 1908 u will be able to repair them since ur Contruction Tech will give u the necessary building boost.

3. Also go Free Trade, and look which laws u can change which give u Construction speed. Eventually u will be at around -60% construction speed which is enough to repair occupied Factories, with the non industrialized nation debuff still on. (Again this will change eventually by itself, i gues its scripted).

4. In the meantime until u reach the necesarry Construction speed to build ur nation, use ur Civilian Factories to spam buy Equipment from other nations. With this strategy i went into WW1 without any problems, beating the German Faction within a year.

5. In my opinion, while it does feel slow and annoiyng, it keeps russia balanced. U have unlimited resources, building slots and manpower. Not being able to build for the first 10 years of the game takes away the possibility of u utterly crushing everything, which is fine in my opinion.
And lets be real, early 20th century russia wasnt the most industrialized with quite some civilian unrest and also were defeated in WW1.

I encourage u to try Russia, in short: buy equipment with ur civs, expand ur territory for some mils, and ultimately u will be able to properly prepare for war at around 1910.