In the 19th century, Finland turned out to be between the two empires - Sweden and Russia, and only ordinary people spoke the Finnish language. How did the Finns manage to preserve and increase their culture and language? And here is Karelia and Komi? This was told to us by Alexei Shishkin - a journalist, writer and local historian. At the beginning of the XIX century, the Finns encountered attempts to assimilate at once from two sides.