Leaders are supposed to inspire others to do great things.
But when they use that power for evil purposes, it just makes things all the worse.
Let us take a look at some of the most evil leaders in history and hope that people learn
from their mistakes!
13.
Mao Zedong.
The Chinese are a pretty progressive country and are a super power today.
But this did not happen overnight.
It began with Mao Zedong coming into power in 1943 and creating the largest genocide
in history.
His actions killed around 40 to 70 million people through forced labour, executions and
starvation.
Even though he has been credited with developing China into a modern nation, there can be no
excuse for his actions.
12.
Fidel Castro.
When a man destroys an entire nation because of his beliefs, he is bound to be one of the
most terrible things that could happen to a country.
And Fidel Castro was just that for Cuba.
When he came into power, he had a thriving economy in his hands.
But in just 2 years, he executed 582 of his political opponents to cement his power.
And then, he enforced his communist philosophy on the country and ruined its economy.
He ruled for 50 years and it was a dangerous time for all in Cuba as he did not hesitate
in executing thousands of people.
He even closed down newspapers and forced many priests, homosexuals and others he considered
immoral into labour camps for re-education by any means necessary.
He even denied basic human rights like freedom of speech to his people and his oppressive
rule absolutely ruined Cuba.
Here comes number 11.
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11.
Robert Mugabe.
While Zimbabwe usually does not feature on the list of popular countries in the world
in any context, one of their leaders still managed to make himself one of the most hated
men in the world.
Robert Mugabe is known to have tortured many people just on the suspicion of them being
trouble makers or working for the opposition.
Not only that, he also rigged two elections to come into power and has committed many
human rights violations.
Even after repeated demands by the public, he refused to step down and it was only a
military action that got him to give up the Presidency of Zimbabwe.
10.
Bashar Al-Assad.
We have all heard of the atrocities being committed in Syria.
Their own government has been using tanks and rockets indiscriminately against the people.
And the man behind all that is Bashar Al-Assad.
He has simply deprived the citizens of Syria to live a peaceful life and does not hesitate
in unleashing violent means to end those who support him.
He has a secret police force known as the Mukhabarat which routinely kidnaps, tortures
and kills those who dare to oppose him.
This kind of a dictatorship is what has driven Syria into ruins.
9.
Francisco Franco.
Any person who took the help of the Nazis to rise to power is someone everyone should
be wary of.
And Francisco Franco proved that to be correct.
He rose to power during the bloody civil war in Spain and ruled as the general and dictator
from 1939 up until his death in 1975.
He had overthrown a democratic government to gain power and it was perhaps a case of
delayed justice as Spain went back to democracy post his death.
Franco persecuted political opponents, repressed the culture and language of many areas and
even censured the media.
He had a total control over the country and was not hesitant in torturing those who offended
him.
8.
Attila the Hun.
When it comes to discussions of evil rulers of the world, the name of Attila the Hun does
tend to crop up every time and for good reason.
He ruled the Hunnic empire from 434 to 453 and had a reputation for being blood thirsty
and barbaric.
He led repeated attacks on Rome and was also known as the scourge of God.
But it wasn’t just Rome that he limited himself to.
All across Europe, his name was a terror as he ravaged provinces from all parts.
His murderous wrath knew no bounds and his subjects didn’t fare much better than his
captives!
7.
Vlad the Impaler.
You can pretty much guess the cruelty of the man from his name itself.
After all, how many can earn the reputation of an impaler?
He ruled from 1456 to 1462 and was one of the most feared names in history.
So much so, that he served as the inspiration behind the story of Dracula and his love for
blood may have played some part in that.
Disembowelling, rectal and facial impalement, skinning, burying alive and cutting off body
parts were some of his favourite forms of torture for anyone he did not like.
He was a terrible figure and all of us should be glad that we were not born during his time.
6.
Saddam Hussein.
This man was responsible for the deaths of over 2 million people.
Saddam Hussein was the dictator of Iraq from 1979 to 2003.
Living under his rule was the worst punishment anyone could give anyone.
He ordered chemical attacks, eye gougings, beatings and severe shocks on people.
And not just that, he was extremely sadistic as well.
Which was why he often made recordings to torture so that he could watch them again
to humour himself.
He committed many atrocities and not just his rivals, but his supporters also lived
in constant fear of his wrath reaching them.
It took 2 wars to capture Saddam and he was finally hanged in 2006 after being found guilty
of crimes against humanity.
But the scars that he left behind will take a long time to heal.
5.
Genghis Khan.
Perhaps there is no name which is more fearsome than Ghanghis Khan in the world.
He was the emperor of Mongolia from 1206 to 1227 and his blood lust was widely known.
He led his people to many victories and he conquered large parts of China as well.
But he was absolutely ruthless and had no qualms in killing people.
In fact, it is said that his men would drink blood from the horses if they ran out of water!
It is estimated that 20 to 60 million people died during his reign and that his army killed
15 million people in just the Iranian plateau itself.
His conquests were bloody and unmerciful and since he relied on speed more than strength,
he did not believe in taking prisoners.
In fact, promotions in his army were based on the number of people they had killed!
4.
King Leopold II.
King Leopold II was the 2nd King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909.
Under his reign, he earned the nickname of the butcher of Congo.
The reason was that Congo was ripe with rubber and he wanted to profit from it.
So he sent down his armies to the colonies and butchered them.
Over 10 million people were massacred at his behest only so that he could gain some profits.
And not just that, he was very authoritarian and cruel as well and often ordered his armies
to cut off the arms of the rebellious workers to serve as examples for others.
It was only when word of his atrocities became public that the government forced him to relinquish
his control over Congo but it still took a long time for the people to recover from his
crimes.
3.
Emperor Hirohito.
Hirohito became the Emperor of Japan by way of traditional order of succession in 1926.
At that time, Japan was one of the strongest countries in the world.
But Hirohito’s ambition knew no bounds.
He used the Second World War to aggressively expand the territories of Japan and it was
perhaps the Pearl harbour bombing that led to the end of his reign.
And while he was not directly involved in the many war crimes that were committed by
Japan, there can be no denying the fact that he had the power to stop them but did not
do anything.
It was under his rule that thousand were raped and murdered in the Nanking massacre and that
Unit 731 was sanctioned where 300,000 people died due to experimentations.
2.
Joseph Stalin.
When a man who was a robber and an assassin in his youth rises to utmost power, there
are bound to be many atrocities that would have been committed.
And that was absolutely true for Joseph Stalin.
He was the dictator of Russia from 1922 till his death in 1953.
He reigned with absolute control in Russia.
He did not hesitate from using terror and violence to maintain his position of power.
Once in power, he usurped the lands of millions of farmers and those that refused were killed.
This also led to a famine that eventually led to the deaths of millions of other people.
And just to exert control, he not only killed off his opponents but even the family members
of those that supported him!
It is believed that he was responsible for the deaths of over 20 million people and more
than 1.5 million German women were raped under his rule.
He is famous for having once said that one death is a tragedy but a million deaths is
just a statistic.
That is how little human life meant to him.
He had a secret police and encouraged citizens to spy on each other and had no qualms in
killing or torturing people.
1.
Adolf Hitler.
If there is one thing that everyone agrees on, it is that Adolf Hitler was the worst
thing that could have happened to this world.
He rose to power in the aftermath of the First World War and became the chancellor of Germany
from 1933 to 1945.
He descended the world into the Second World War all in a bid to increase his powers and
that wasn’t even the worst thing he did.
He was also responsible for the holocaust which was the killing of an entire community
because he believed that they were polluting the world.
His actions led to the death of 50 million people and he was also responsible for the
torture and horrors of countless others.
He ordered inhuman experimentations on humans and even committed mass killings of innocent
civilians in concentration camps like Auschwitz.
There has probably never been a person who is so unanimously hated in all parts of the
world.
His rule was one of the darkest periods in human history and we hope that no one like
him can ever come into a position of power.
These were some of the worst rulers that history has ever seen and if you know of others, do
let us know in the comments section below.
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