Russian Empire
Though the Empire was only officially proclaimed by Tsar Peter I following the Treaty of Nystad (1721), some historians would argue that it was truly born either when Ivan III of Russia conquered Veliky Novgorod in 1478, or when Ivan the Terrible conquered the Khanate of Kazan in 1552. According to another point of view, the term "Tsardom", which was used after the coronation of Ivan IV in 1547, was already a contemporary Russian word for empire.
Grand Orient of Russia’s Peoples
Freemasonry in Russia was outlawed in 1822 during the reign of Alexander I of Russia and a further crackdown was initiated during the reign of Nicholas I of Russia, as the creators of the Decembrist Revolt, the Union of Salvation, were accused of being connected to Freemasonry. By the end of the 19th century, Russian political and intellectual emigres living in Paris had started to enter Masonic lodges working the Scottish Rite. This included Maksim Kovalevsky, Grigorii Nikolayevich Vyrubov and Pavel Yablochkov.