Worst Dictator In History

[Juggernaut]

Pol Pot was probably the most evil dictator, but Stalin certainly had the worst impact on history.

[FriedrichSeneca]

By worse dictator do you mean the one who failed at being a dictator, or the contrary?

I'd go for the Merovingian dynasty, if that count.
If you want my opinion on the "worse" contemporary dictator, I'd go for Kim Jong Il. Not as influencial as Stalin, but he sure achieved totalitarism to a greater degree.

[Nono]

I guess Jug means nasty, in which case there's a lot of competition out there.

Stalin had the advantage of numbers and longevity.
Pol Pot was nothing if not industrious in his wickedness.

[Century 25]

Worst dictator..? Besides GW Bush..? Easy. The 'Fed' and it's current dictat.. er, 'chairman' - eh..!! I think Ron Paul has a point.. and I thin JFK was trying to rein the Fed in also..

'Chairman Bernanke'

The Dictator of the Free World – The Austrian

[Juggernaut]

Quote by: Century 25 Worst dictator..? Besides GW Bush..? Easy. The 'Fed' and it's current dictat.. er, 'chairman' - eh..!! I think Ron Paul has a point.. and I thin JFK was trying to rein the Fed in also.. 'Chairman Bernanke' The Dictator of the Free World – The Austrian

George W. Bush and Ben Bernanke the worst dictators in history?
Obviously your idealistic libertarian distortion of history doesn't span does not extend past ten years.

[thebuescherman]

Mao Zedong (Tse-tung) was pretty horrible, but the Chinese still somehow respect the man.

[FriedrichSeneca]

Quote by: thebuescherman Mao Zedong (Tse-tung) was pretty horrible, but the Chinese still somehow respect the man.

That just proves how perfectly horrible he managed to get.

[thebuescherman]

Quote by: FriedrichSeneca That just proves how perfectly horrible he managed to get.

Indeed. Interesting point. How else could a man who tried to eliminate culture could be so loved by one of the most culturally dominant countries in the world?

[FriedrichSeneca]

Quote by: thebuescherman Indeed. Interesting point. How else could a man who tried to eliminate culture could be so loved by one of the most culturally dominant countries in the world?

Ask George Orwell. When I read 1984 I first though he inspired himself of the maoist "cultural revolution", then I realized the work has been published 20 years before it actually happened...

[yukonmuffin]

Why hasn't der furra been mentioned? Hitler pwns the competition.

[Walrus]

Quote by: yukonmuffin Why hasn't der furra been mentioned? Hitler pwns the competition.

You can't mention Hitler on a debate forum, he's a logical fallacy.

[G. Adams]

I guess it comes down to how you define worst. Impact? Mao. But for sheer brutality and efficiency Pol Pot I think.

[Raastee]

No telling how many people Stalin killed. I would agree that Stalin and Pol Pot were some nasty people. Mao was horrible as well.

[The Dunedan]

Well, if you're talking numbers alone, it comes down to only two: Joesef Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung. Nobody else is even in their league; estimates for the body-count in both cases run to 50,000,000-plus. On percentages, Pol Pot and Idi Amin both lead the boards; Pot probably coming out ahead given that something on the order of 55% of the Cambodian population ceased to exist under his rule. Scipio Africanus also probably falls somewhere in here, likewise Philip of Macedon and Ghengis, Ogudai, and Kublai Khan.

Now, when you get into innovation and pure demonic energy, that's where things get tricky. That's when you start having to look really hard at a nasty little provincial nobleman named Vlad Dracula "Tepes" III of Wallachia. Yeah, Dracula, The Impaler. In less than 5 years of total "throne time," Vlad is believed to have executed, starved, or worked-to-death something north of 120,000 people: doesn't sound like much until you realize that the population of Wallachia at the time was only around 500,000 souls, possibly as little as 300,000. Vlad managed to liquidate 1/5-1/3 of his subject population in less than five years and without any of the conveniences a modern mass-murdering dictator (firearms, mechanised executions, automobile/rail transport, etc) relies upon in order to keep the whole grisly machine running properly. Not only that, but managed this colossal massacre while fighting several (sometimes simultaneous) running wars against the Turks, King Matus Corvinus of Hungary, and various other local warlords and nobles: as a consequence he rarely had large armies to turn loose on the population (unlike Scipio, Ghengis, or Philip). And the reasons for this bloodbath? Paranoia, family vendettas, and a massive sense of Law'n Order. In Vlad's Wallachia, adultery was punishable by being skinned alive after impalement, likewise counterfeiting. Theft, drunkenness, public brawling, heresy, apostasy, non-payment of taxes, and treason (which Vlad defined as any act, word, or thought running counter to any portion of any dictat or order, or which insulted the majesty of the Throne, or any order therefrom) were all punishable by impalement, roasting alive, or simply being worked to death at Poinarri or one of Vlad's other fortresses. One visiting German nobleman, unwise enough to complain of the stench created by the hundreds of rotting corpses which decorated Tirgoviste, Vlad's capitol city, was promptly impaled himself on a stake several times taller than the rest. "There." Vlad is reported to have said, "now you can live up there, where the smell will not bother you." A huge egoist, Vlad was rumored (with some support for the accusation) to use the blood of those executed for treason or adultery to sop his bread. The circumstances of Vlad's death remain in dispute, but many historians believe that he was given the Reinhardt Heydrich treatment and killed by his own subjects before his rage and homicidial mania could get any worse. In many ways, Vlad was the prototype for the Western dictatorial State: his use of labour camps/projects, organised secret police, an appeal to law and order coupled with the threat of Turkish/Hungarian invasion to justify his atrocities, and his systematic methods all laid the groundwork for the Leupolds, Hitlers, Stalins, Maos and Pots who came after him.

[Nono]

Good post, dan. We're locked into thinking of Hitlers and Stalins so we forget others.

And Leopold -- good eye. But was he really a dictator, or just a totally amoral shithead whose actions were hugely murderous?

Maybe the thread title should be History's Most Destructively Brutal Villain.

[thebuescherman]

Chinggis Khan is certainly a debatable entry. Who knows how many people died by the hordes. However, once you were defeated, treatment was remarkably benevolent for a conqueror. He often allowed the current governments to remain intact. Religious tolerance was a central part of the Khan's empire. What little government existed was based on meritocracy. They even called the time period Pax Mongolia (Mongol Peace). It would appear that he merely sought out to see how much he could conquer, not control or destroy. Compared to people like Pol Pot and Mao Tse-tung, there is a remarkable difference.

[FriedrichSeneca]

Quote by: thebuescherman Chinggis Khan is certainly a debatable entry. Who knows how many people died by the hordes. However, once you were defeated, treatment was remarkably benevolent for a conqueror. He often allowed the current governments to remain intact. Religious tolerance was a central part of the Khan's empire.

The Merovingian Dynasty on the other hand...

Blood, ignorance, religion, chaos, starvation.

[Century 25]

Each and every pope. The 'popes' perpetuating the horror of 'the church' upon all the world. Ignorance.. think of the lives lost to utter ignorance. The 'pope' rules his domain with an iron fist and a brain of mush.

How many more have to perish under the ignorance..?

Pope: Condoms not answer in AIDS fight in Africa - USATODAY.com - The blind leading the blind.