>
> The famine of course was used as a political tool by Stalin... and
> collectivization would have been handled in an entirely different way if
> Trotsky was in power-- that's indisputable.
Indisputable? Really? I think that entails more faith in the center's ability to control exact implementation, Trotsky's ability to control the center, and Trotsky's aversion to brutality than is justified.
I think it's plausible to argue that if Trotsky had total command over Soviet policy he wouldn't have engaged in a Mike Davis-style planned famine. But I wouldn't call even that "indisputable."