Karpovich Says National Titoism, Anti-Stalinism Cause for Revolts

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y., Oct. 27--The recent dramatic events in Poland and Hungary are in part the results of Titoism and anti-Stalinism, carried to extremes Tito and Khrushchev never intended, Professor Michael Karpovich said today at Vassar College.

His address keynoted a two-day conference on Russia sponsored by the Russian Department and Russian Club of Vassar for 17 Russian Clubs from various colleges and universities.

Karpovich, Kurt Hugo Reisinger Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, had originally planned to discuss only the effects of de-Stalinization, but he extended his remarks to include the present crises.

He described Titoism as a national Communist movement which made no fundamental changes in government aims or structures. Anti-Stalinism, he said, has bred a divided loyalty between nationalist and Communist, a greater degree of self-expression among the people, and greater attention to the needs of the population.

Together, Titoism and anti-Stalinism lead to a desire for freedom by the national Communist parties in the satellites, and eventually to a desire for freedom from Soviet domination in any form whatsoever.

The rebellion was much smoother in Poland than in Hungary, he said, because the Polish regime made sufficient concessions in time.

Possible Revolt in Russia

Both movements are basically different from what might happen in the Soviet Union, he argued, because there is little traditional nationalism to divide loyalty to the Communist ideal in the U.S.S.R. The nationalism of the border states he termed a minor exception.

Liberalization of the regimes, he predicted, will lead to a corrosion within Russia itself and a weakening dynamism in the Communist movement, resulting from a desire by the people to "enjoy the fruits of the victory of the revolution" and a sincere wish for peace.