How did the first nation states develop and on what continent did most of them form?

For most people, the nation existed first, then nationalist movements arose for sovereignty, and the nation-state was created to meet that demand.  Most theories see the nation-state as a modern European phenomenon, facilitated by developments such as state-mandated education, mass literacy, mass media, and even including print.

There is the first part I'm a little stuck on the second part. ^

which empire had the greatest influence on the history and cultural development of russia?