The Most Cruel Rulers In Modern History

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Many leaders in history have pursued dictatorship to rule their world with iron fists. Such power hungry leaders have held onto their leadership by using brutal force and inhuman tactics that have left many people dead. History has also shown us the fate of such leaders which have all ended in spectacular failures. There are several modern leaders such as Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini etc who have pursued dictatorship to achieve fools-glory by suppressing basic human rights and inflicting terror on their own people.

Democracy is still a relatively modern concept that has helped in transferring power to the people from monarchy. Many nations have successfully transitioned from monarchy to democracy. Certain systemic failures have helped few rogue leaders to grab power and hold on to it without the consent of their own people. Such leaders have blindly persecuted opposition leaders and suppressed any voices that have tried to weaken their regime.

There have been several cruel rulers in the past century who have managed to form authoritarian governments by suppressing human rights and inflicted crime and war to retain power without the will of their people. Adolf Hitler of Germany in particular can easily be ranked as the cruelest leader the world has had to endure. Recent Arab Spring uprising has resulted in dethroning of several cruel leaders in the middle east.

Here is the list of most cruel leaders of modern history.

Adolf Hitler

The most famously infamous persecutor the world has ever seen has caused deaths of over 11 million people of which Jews alone account for 6 million. By inflicting major war on the world he has caused another 70 million deaths.

Joseph Stalin

This former Soviet leader has resulted in deaths of about 20 million people during his regime. He was a popular figure during Russian Revolution and rose to power in 1924 post Linen's death.

Pol Pot

This leader of communist organisation called Khmer Rouge became the dictator of Cambodia and resulted in killing of over 2 million people. His experimental regime starved over 1 million people to death.

Idi Amin

This Ugandan dictator is responsible for quarter of a million people during his rule from 1975-1979. His infamous regime is said to have resorted to torture, extra-judicial executions, corruption and ethnic persecution.

Saddam Hussein

This Iraqi dictator ruled for nearly 25 years from 1979 till the invasion in 2003. His atrocities on Kurds has resulted in killing of nearly 3 lakh Kurd's and nearly 1 million deaths during his regime.

Mao Zedong

This Chinese communist revolutionary and politician is the founding father of People's Republic of China. He governed China for over 25 years and many claim he has resulted in deaths of 40-70 million people due to starvation, forced labour, and executions.

Augusto Pinochet

This military dictator, who came to power in chile via a coup in 1973, ruled the country for nearly 20 years by brutally suppressing his opponents. More than 100,000 people were arrested only during the first three years.

Francois Duvalier

The Haitian dictator, also known as Papa Doc, ruled one of the poorest countries in American region. His reign of terror is said to have been responsible for 30 thousand deaths.

Francisco Franco

The Spanish dictator ruled for nearly 36 years after winning Spanish civil war. His regime is marked by severe repression and systematic suppression of dissidents. His death brought democracy to Spain.

Mengistu Haile Mariam

He is the Ethiopian dictator who came to power after dethroning monarchy in the country. His violent campaign, known as the Ethiopian Red Terror, during which about 500,000 people are said to have been killed.