angela merkel belarus belarusian language belarusians black ruthenia byzantine empire cardinal direction carpathian mountains croatia croats czech republic eastern europe english language german language germany grand duchy of lithuania great russia hmong people hrodna imperialism latin little russia minsk navahrudak poland polish language red army red croatia rome russia russian empire russian language ruthenia ruthenians sigismund von herberstein slonim third rome tsar ukraine ukrainian language white croatia white croats white russian white movement