They say ‘Absolute power, corrupts absolutely’. From gulags to the holocaust, check out these frightening facts about history’s most formidable tyrants.
Dictators rule by fear, death and destruction. But who are the most deadliest, despicable dictators of all time? Thoughty2 talks about the atrocities committed by infamous dictators such as Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong and Josef Stalin – among others.
10Kim-Sung (North Korea), estimated deaths: 1.6 million
Prisoners in gulags were forced to dig their own graves before being struck with hammers. Pregnant women in camps were made to undertake hard labor to force miscarriages.
09Pol Pot (Cambodia), estimated deaths1.7 million
In just four years he caused the deaths of a ¼ of the Cambodian population. He targeted intellectuals who threatened his power, killing those with glasses or a 2nd language.
08Ismail Enver Pasha (Turkey), estimated deaths: 2 million
Ismail is responsible for a famine and ordered the Armenian genocide that killed up to 1.5 million. Armenians were forced to march nude through deserts, many dying of exhaustion.
07Hideki Tojo (Japan), estimated deaths: 4 million
Hideki led the attack on Pearl harbor and numerous massacres of civilians and unarmed soldiers. He was executed for war crimes in 1948 after a failed suicide attempt.
06Vladimir Lenin (Russia) estimated deaths: 4 million
Lenin ordered the execution of Russian ministers and the royal family during the civil war. Instigated the red terror to silence opposition – clergymen were impaled and rebels buried alive.
05Chiang Kai-Shek (Kina), estimated deaths: 10 million
Chiang Kai-Shek ordered 1927´s Shanghai massacre, killing over 5.000 communists and students. He is responsible for the 1947 slaughter of 20.000 Taiwanese – primarily leaders and intellectuals.
04King Leopold II of Belgium (Congo), estimated deaths: 13 million
King Leopold II massacred 10 million by burning villages and flogging slaves to death. Two million were beheaded, their heads and genitals displayed in public.
03Adolf Hitler (Germany), estimated deaths: 17-20 million
Parents of disabled children were forced to send them to clinics where they received lethal injections. 2/3 of European Jews were killed during the Holocaust – many subjected to sadistic vivisections.
02Joseph Stalin (Russia), estimated deaths: 40 - 60 million
90% of food was taken by the government, leaving 5 million to starve to death. The great purge saw enemies tortured into public confessions before being executed.
01Mao Zedong (China), estimated deaths: 45 -75 million
Under Mao´s regime those deemed unfit or too old were banned from canteens and left to starve. Parents of children caught stealing food were forced to bury their offspring alive.
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