East Slavic

The East Slavic group includes the Muscovites, Novgorodians, Smolenskians, Ruthenians and others. In 988 Grand Prince Vladimir took Orthodox Christianity from Byzantium.

The Mongols conquered Rus' in 1237–1240, and the Golden Horde ruled through Moscow's princes. Lithuania took the western lands, and Poland took Halych. Moscow defeated the Horde at Kulikovo in 1380, annexed Novgorod in 1478 and ended Mongol rule in 1480 under Ivan III. Ivan IV became tsar in 1547, the Romanovs followed in 1613, and Peter I declared the Russian Empire in 1721.