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Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count - Politics - Nairaland

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Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Igboid: 1:07pm On Aug 14, 2020
Some people make horrible decisions, others are just bad presidents, a few are bloodthirsty, many are extremists, a couple are warmongers, and all of these guys are a mix. Ten of our political leaders in the last 130 years have been the architects of the most horrific genocides, systematic murders, blockades, brutal wars, and policy reforms history has ever recorded.

Where to begin? Maybe an icebreaker for you next dinner party? Did you know the word “genocide” was coined in 1943 to describe when the Armenians were slaughtered haphazardly by Turkish leader Ismail Enver? Until then there was no specific word for it in our language. It makes me think about how much more cognizant we’ve become in this last century to these events. So, a quick toast between you and I to a more peaceable future where less of what follows below is allowed to happen. Sit back, but don’t relax.



http://www.popten.net/2010/05/top-ten-most-evil-dictators-of-all-time-in-order-of-kill-count/?fbclid=IwAR0zYhPyPO8O9K27CZNK0DDizkWT8yfgPK_1IOmA7py18WGfc393enyrWW4
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Igboid: 1:08pm On Aug 14, 2020
10. Yakubu Gowon (1.1 million deaths)
Breakdown: 1 million civilians on the wrong side of a blockade caused by a war of secession in Nigeria and 100,000 soldiers who died in that war.

It starts as many sad stories do with precious beautiful oil. It had been found in the Niger delta where tensions were already high between the Eastern region (led by Ojukwu) and the rest of the country (governed by Yakubu). A dummy agreement was signed between them called the “Aburi Accord”, but it meant nothing to either leader. Yakubu started to put pressure on the region, and tested how much sway he had in the area versus Ojukwu. Well Ojukwu being no slouch declared secession from the rest of Nigeria and became the “Republic of Biafra”. This began a war that caused the deaths of 100,000 soldiers, and much worse, a blockade on the region which starved 1 million civilians.

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Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Igboid: 1:08pm On Aug 14, 2020
9. Mengistu Haile Mariam (400,000 – 1.5 million deaths)

Breakdown: As president of Ethiopia and colonel of “the Derg” (communist militia) Mengitsu systematically killed those against him in the “Red Terror” campaign.

Mengistu Haile Mariam is (as in still alive) a politician who presided over Ethiopia from 1974 to 1991. The way he got into power was by smothering the previous president Haile Selassie although he has denied those rumors. His biggest claim to fame is the Ethiopian Red Terror which was a campaign of repression led by the Derg (communist militia in Ethiopia).
It was an auspicious beginning to say the least. Thousands were killed and found dead on the streets in the years that followed. Much of the murdering can be attributed to the friendly neighborhood watch there known as “Kebeles”. As if killing innocents wasn’t enough they would then charge the family a tax to return the dead body to them. The tax was aptly named “the wasted bullet”! Are you serious Mengitsu? However there was an even more gruesome fate of being left on the street where wild hyenas would fight over the dead. The campaign has been described as one of the worst mass murders ever in Africa. Mengitsu is even known to have garroted people to death.
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by yarimo(m): 1:09pm On Aug 14, 2020
number 1 GOODLUCK JONATHAN former President of Nigeria.
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Nobody: 1:24pm On Aug 14, 2020
yarimo:
number 1 GOODLUCK JONATHAN former President of Nigeria.
Number 0 Buhari
Cos 0 comes before 1

4 Likes

Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Igboid: 1:25pm On Aug 14, 2020
8. Kim Il Sung (1.6 million deaths)

Breakdown: Unpopular among his people Kim used the U.S. as a scapegoat and forced the country to believe in his delusion or else.

Before our very own Kim Jong-Il was his murderous father Kim Il Sung who led North Korea in a terrible direction. He fought for a command economy that allowed the government to make all decisions for the country. For various reasons the people never seemed to love the man, and so his hold on power was tenuous at best. Like most crazies he blamed somebody else, in this case the USA, and said they had spread disease throughout its population. He also pulled a Stalin, and had large-scale purges. His underlying reason was that it would scare people into believing he was telling the truth. Kim’s purge was a little different than Stalin’s though in that there were no trials. During his tenure prison camps sprung up all over the country to contain the ever growing masses of people against Kim Il Sung.
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Igboid: 1:25pm On Aug 14, 2020
7. Pol Pot (1.7 million deaths)


Breakdown: Forced city folk to relocate to farms and forced them into hard labor.

Pol Pot was the leader of the communist movement in Cambodia. He attempted to “cleanse” the country and it resulted in the death of an estimated 1.7 to 2.5 million people. There was an interesting policy going around called agrarian collectivization which he put into practice in the late 1970’s. Basically it forced city folk to head out to the farms to do some labor and vice versa for farmers. As you might guess, and hindsight is 20/20, neither group was very good at their new jobs. Pol didn’t stop at enslaving his own people though. He also didn’t feed them well, gave them little medical care, and executed many of them. The net result was killing off approximately 1/5 of the Cambodian population!
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Igboid: 1:32pm On Aug 14, 2020
6. Ismail Enver Pasha (2.5 million deaths


Breakdown: 1,200,000 Armenians (1915) + 350,000 Greek Pontians and 480,000 Anatolian Greeks (1916-22) + 500,000 Assyrians (1915-20)

He began his career as a Turkish military officer and leader in the Young Turk revolution. Eventually he rose to power and led the Ottoman Empire in both Balkan Wars and World War I. As a war minister Enver was not very useful, and was defeated over and over. His crushing loss at the Battle of Sarikamish needed a scapegoat, and that’s when he decided to blame Armenians for the failure. That is what began what is now known as the Armenian Genocide. The word “genocide” was coined to describe this event.
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Igboid: 1:34pm On Aug 14, 2020
5. Hideki Tojo (5 million deaths)


Breakdown: Waged unprovoked wars against China, USA, Netherlands, and France.

Hideki Tojo was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He assumed the position of Prime Minister and held Army Minister concurrently. As if that wasn’t enough he also held other major positions like Home Minister, Foreign Minister, Education Minister, and Commerce Minister. His major contributions to education were teaching militaristic and nationalist indoctrination. His version of homeland security was approving eugenics measures which essentially made a distinction between pure blood and mixed blood Japanese families.

During World War II Tojo started winning battles and the public loved him for it. He really bought into the Nazi Kool-aid, and held steadfastly with Germany. When the tide turned, and he began losing, it was devastating. Eventually he went into seclusion. He was tried for war crimes and found guilty of waging wars of aggression, wars in violation of international law, and waging unprovoked war against many countries. Not to mention ordering, authorizing, and permitting inhumane treatment of Prisoners of War.
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Igboid: 1:36pm On Aug 14, 2020
4. Leopold II of Belgium (2-15 million deaths)



Breakdown: Created a colony called the “Congo Free State”, enslaved its people, and forced them into labor plants.

Leopold II was the King of the Belgians, and believed in colonialism. He thought acquiring colonies overseas was essential to a great country and was always scheming. The problem was Belgium really didn’t care, and so Leopold went into business for himself. He started a company that seemed like it was doing good called the International African Society. A year later he used that company to travel to Congo, laid claim to a plot of land 14 times the size of Belgium, and made 14 countries agree (USA included) that he was free to rule it with his own private militia. He then forced the indigenous populations into forced labor, created a bustling rubber industry, and abused his workers grievously.
Estimates of the death toll range from two to fifteen million which could all have been avoided if 14 countries didn’t hand him the keys to the car!
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Igboid: 1:39pm On Aug 14, 2020
3. Adolf Hitler (17 million deaths)


Breakdown: Concentration camps and civilians in WWII.

Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Nazi Party. He was the absolute dictator of Germany from 1934 to 1945. He gained support by promoting values like German nationalism and anti-semitism. Hitler was appointed chancellor in 1933 and began the Third Reich. Hitler was power hungry as all hell, hated the shit out of Jews (and others), and wanted hegemony in Europe. The militarization that was needed to complete such a lofty goal led to the outbreak of World War II. Nazi forces engaged in the systematic murder of as many as 17 million civilians, an estimated six million of whom were Jews, and 1.5 million Romanis.
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Igboid: 1:41pm On Aug 14, 2020
2. Jozef Stalin (23 million deaths)


Breakdown: The great purges and Ukraine’s famine.

Jozef Stalin was the first Secretary of the Communist Party from 1922 – 1953. After Lenin’s death in 1924, he became the leader of the Soviet Union. Stalin didn’t take long in launching a new economy that screwed up food production across the country so bad it caused massive famine. Between 1922-23 it reached such catastrophic proportions everything went to shit. In Ukraine this dark period is known as Holodomor. Its widely believed that Soviet policies caused the famine there and was designed as an attack on Ukrainian nationalism. Estimates on the total number of casualties within Soviet Ukraine range from 2.6 million to 10 million! During the late 1930s Stalin launched another wonderfully titled initiative called the Great Purge (also known as the “Great Terror”). It was a paranoid campaign to kill off the people who opposed him, and his targets were often executed.

In 1939 Stalin agreed to a non-aggression pact with the Nazis. Eventually Germany violated the pact, the Soviet Union joined the allies, and they racked up 23.9 million deaths (the largest death toll in the war).
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Igboid: 1:43pm On Aug 14, 2020
1. Mao Zedong (49-78 million deaths)


Breakdown: Policy reforms like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.

Mao Zedong was a Chinese revolutionary, political theorist, and communist leader who led the People’s Republic of China. Mao, while controversial, is still widely considered a savior of the nation. I did a semester abroad in China in 2001 after falling in love with its history, and was surprised in my conversations that many people thought Mao had done 70% – 80% good things. During his first five years from 1949 – 53 he is said to have systematically killed between 4 to 6 million people by sentencing them to die or by sending them to “reform through labor” camps. He organized mass repressions, established execution quotas, and defended his actions in these early years as necessary for securing power for “The People’s Republic of China”.

His social programs the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution are two of the most ill-fated, poorly named, initiatives ever. The first was an effort to rapidly industrialize China. His focus was on making China a premier exporter of steel, and to this end he asked everybody to make it. The problem was it got many citizens to make smelting shops in their backyards. Not only was the steel of little value, but it was made from everything lying around the house including their own cooking supplies! Without the tools to make food, no money coming in from the steel, and no money to survive ~ a lot of people starved to death. The estimates on this program alone are 20 million deaths! Think about that number. Really think about it. Then ask yourself… why would you EVER let someone back into power after such an insanely bad decision.Well, they took the reigns away from him for a short time.

In the interim Mao started the socialist education movement. He aimed the concept at young ones who would eventually wrest the power away from the older guard. By 1964 this movement was renamed the “four cleanups movement” whose goal was cleansing politics, economics, ideas, and organization of “reactionaries”. This led to the formation of the “Red Guards” who were organized to punish intellectuals and take out Mao’s political adversaries. The Cultural Revolution was now underway, and its overriding mission was to abolish: Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Ideas. Something Mao fervently believed in was that destruction and chaos could bring re-birth. So he told his followers to destroy buildings, sacred objects, talk back to ones elders, punish them, turn them in, and kill those who did not agree. By 1968 things were starting to look pretty good for Mao all over again, and so he put into place the decade long “Down to the Countryside Movement” which forced young intellectuals to move out to the country to become farmers. Sadly, the people he pushed out there were the same Red Guards who had helped him get power. Estimates of the death toll are between 40,000 – 7 million depending on who you ask.

Finally, there is the 100 flowers movement which just needs an abbreviated mention here. Mao asked people to come forth and tell him how he should govern China. Intellectuals and liberals bit at the chance to tell him what they really thought, and were encouraged by the Communist party to do so. Then in a sudden change of heart, or an incredibly crafty mission to out his haters, the government persecuted 500,000 of them who were considered to be “dangerous thinkers”.
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by SpecialAdviser(m): 2:00pm On Aug 14, 2020
Yakubu Gowon should come down to at least no 5 position. Do more on your research.

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Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by nairalandankrah: 2:01pm On Aug 14, 2020
Where is buhari in that list??

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Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by freeborn02: 2:05pm On Aug 14, 2020
SpecialAdviser:
Yakubu Gowon should come down to at least no 5 position. Do more on your research.

If you call Gowon a dictator according to deaths under their leadership, then Abraham Lincoln is also a dictator

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Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by SpecialAdviser(m): 2:07pm On Aug 14, 2020
freeborn02:


If you call Gowon a dictator according to deaths under their leadership, then Abraham Lincoln is also a dictator

Lincoln never had a policy during war that introduced blockade and caused the death of millions of innocent children.

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Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by freeborn02: 2:10pm On Aug 14, 2020
SpecialAdviser:


Lincoln never had a policy during war that introduced blockade and caused the death of millions of innocent children.

All is fair in love and war.
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by SpecialAdviser(m): 2:25pm On Aug 14, 2020
freeborn02:


All is fair in love and war.

Why then do we have war crimes?

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Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by freeborn02: 2:38pm On Aug 14, 2020
SpecialAdviser:


Why then do we have war crimes?

Why then hasn't Gowon be charged for war crimes?

Did he even commit a crime? No

He only changed his country's currency. Pray thee tell me how that was a crime.

1 Like

Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Hollysaint: 2:49pm On Aug 14, 2020
So sad
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by SpecialAdviser(m): 2:49pm On Aug 14, 2020
freeborn02:


Why then hasn't Gowon be charged for war crimes?

Did he even commit a crime? No

He only changed his country's currency. Pray thee tell me how that was a crime.

The fact that he has not been charged doesn't make him less a criminal. Stop being myopic. The world only render justice where it care. Do you imagine why Bush is yet to be charged on war crimes in Iraq?

Again why do you leave the main war crime I mentioned. He initiated a blockade that killed millions of innocent children.

One day he will answer for his crime.
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Nobody: 2:51pm On Aug 14, 2020
I know one tyrant that's not on that list
Don't ask me who
I know what you are thinking
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by kingzizzy: 2:52pm On Aug 14, 2020
freeborn02:


All is fair in love and war.

People like Charles Taylor and Radovan Karazic thought the same, they are now in jail
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by Nobody: 2:54pm On Aug 14, 2020
9. Mengistu Haile Mariam (400,000 – 1.5 million deaths)
Breakdown: As president of Ethiopia and colonel of “the Derg” (communist militia) Mengitsu systematically killed those against him in the “Red Terror” campaign.
Mengistu Haile Mariam is (as in still alive) a politician who presided over Ethiopia from 1974 to 1991. The way he got into power was by smothering the previous president Haile Selassie although he has denied those rumors. His biggest claim to fame is the Ethiopian Red Terror which was a campaign of repression led by the Derg (communist militia in Ethiopia).
It was an auspicious beginning to say the least. Thousands were killed and found dead on the streets in the years that followed. Much of the murdering can be attributed to the friendly neighborhood watch there known as “Kebeles”. As if killing innocents wasn’t enough they would then charge the family a tax to return the dead body to them. The tax was aptly named “the wasted bullet”! Are you serious Mengitsu? However there was an even more gruesome fate of being left on the street where wild hyenas would fight over the dead. The campaign has been described as one of the worst mass murders ever in Africa. Mengitsu is even known to have garroted people to death.


Thank God for MELES ZENAWI who abandoned his studies in Europe to pursue the Derg regime of Mengistus Haile Mariam and he removed Haile Mariam


MelesZenawi has contributed immensely to African politics by trying to bring sanity and decorum infact hygiene to the politics

Today children of recent years will dare to challenge the maker of African politics.


MelesZenawi has written his name in gold.

1 Like

Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by ABULARdotCOM: 2:57pm On Aug 14, 2020
...

3 Likes

Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by freeborn02: 3:41pm On Aug 14, 2020
SpecialAdviser:


The fact that he has not been charged doesn't make him less a criminal. Stop being myopic. The world only render justice where it care. Do you imagine why Bush is yet to be charged on war crimes in Iraq?

Again why do you leave the main war crime I mentioned. He initiated a blockade that killed millions of innocent children.

One day he will answer for his crime.

Blockade is a war tactic oga. It had been used for centuries. Blockading your enemy is not a war crime.
You are the one allowing your emotion to turn you blind.

1 Like

Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by freeborn02: 3:45pm On Aug 14, 2020
SpecialAdviser:


The fact that he has not been charged doesn't make him less a criminal. Stop being myopic. The world only render justice where it care. Do you imagine why Bush is yet to be charged on war crimes in Iraq?

Again why do you leave the main war crime I mentioned. He initiated a blockade that killed millions of innocent children.

One day he will answer for his crime.

The real war criminal was Ojukwu. Why would he continue to put the lives of his people in danger of death when he knew he had been blockaded and also knew blockading can lead to death? Why couldn't he surrender?

Or was Ojukwu's ambition stronger than the well-being of his people?

1 Like

Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by SpecialAdviser(m): 3:47pm On Aug 14, 2020
freeborn02:


Blockade is a war tactic oga. It had been used for centuries. Blockading your enemy is not a war crime.
You are the one allowing your emotion to turn you blind.

Lol. I felt you are even knowledgeable in war crimes. Military blockade is a war tactics not a food blockade. Hitler food blockade on civilian population in Linegrad USSR made him incur world wrath. When you block a civilian population, you allow food but disallow weapons. Also you can block food from enemy military.

It is a war crime to block food reaching a civilian population during war. More so children. Google is your friend.

You may go through below link;

https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_rul_rule53
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by freeborn02: 3:51pm On Aug 14, 2020
SpecialAdviser:


Lol. I felt you are even knowledgeable in war crimes. Military blockade is a war tactics not a food blockade. Hitler food blockade on civilian population in Linegrad USSR made him incur world wrath. When you block a civilian population, you allow food but disallow weapons. Also you can block food from enemy military.

It is a war crime to block food reaching a civilian population during war. More so children. Google is your friend.

And yet, relief materials got into igboland during the war. How did that happen if there was a food blockade?

1 Like

Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by SpecialAdviser(m): 3:54pm On Aug 14, 2020
freeborn02:


And yet, relief materials got into igboland during the war. How did that happen if there was a food blockade?

OK. You changed to denial of blockade? Have you now agreed that blockade is a war crime?
Re: Top 10 Most Evil Dictators Of All Time In Order Of Kill Count by SpecialAdviser(m): 3:55pm On Aug 14, 2020
freeborn02:


The real war criminal was Ojukwu. Why would he continue to put the lives of his people in danger of death when he knew he had been blockaded and also knew blockading can lead to death? Why couldn't he surrender?

Or was Ojukwu's ambition stronger than the well-being of his people?

This argument eludes kids please.

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