Over the course of history, humans have lived under the rule of numerous brutal tyrants whose reigns have brought about violence, oppression and suffering. From torture to forced labor, and even genocide, history’s worst tyrants have demonstrated the extremes of human cruelty.
History’s most brutal tyrants
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler is synonymous with evil. During the Holocaust, his Nazi party orchestrated the murder of six million Jews and five million people of other groups that were marginalized by his regime, such as LGBTQ+ members, Roma, people with disabilities, political rivals, and prisoners of war.
In addition to committing genocide, Hitler’s totalitarian rule over Germany targeted the free press and reduced civilians’ civil liberties. He committed various war crimes including ordering forced labor, plundering occupied territories, and executing prisoners of war. Nazi Germany also indoctrinated many of its people, brainwashing millions to support Hitler’s fascism.
From the Holocaust to the expansionist ideals that played a significant role in World War II, Hitler and the Nazis will forever be remembered as a symbol of how deep human hatred can run.
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin, the infamous successor to Vladimir Lenin, is responsible for the most deaths by any person in history. Stalin ruled with an iron fist, orchestrating mass purges that effectively murdered and imprisoned anyone who stood against him and his oppressive regime. Stalin’s gulags were in and of itself a war crime; millions of people were imprisoned in these labor camps and many perished thanks to their harsh conditions.
Stalin’s censorship of anything critical of the Soviet Union had far-reaching implications. He was responsible for the Holodomor tragedy in Ukraine, in which millions died of starvation. He also suppressed any news or coverage that the event had taken place. His regime only allowed for pro-government propaganda art; all other cultural outputs were silenced and censored.
Paranoia and suspicion dominated the Soviet Union. Out of fear of Stalin and the regime, people would tattle on their neighbors and even proactively lie about people, leading to wrongful arrests, imprisonment, and executions. Stalin’s totalitarian rule and merciless attitude toward all opposition make him one of the world’s most oppressive leaders.
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong’s establishment and subsequent rule of the People’s Republic of China was one of history’s most brutal. Starting with the Great Leap Forward – a series of disastrous agricultural and industrial policies that caused widespread famine and the death of 30 to 45 million people – Zedong committed a huge number of atrocities. He is responsible for the deaths of millions of people who stood against him during China’s cultural revolution; the torture of political dissidents; and for creating an atmosphere of suppression and forced reverence.
China‘s economy was also severely mismanaged under his rule, leading to widespread suffering. The extermination of private farming, and the development of communal farms, proved disastrous. Forcing peasants to work in unfamiliar lands and in poor conditions further exacerbated famine.
Mao Zedong left behind him a legacy of divisiveness and suppression. His rule erased thousands of years of Chinese culture and created a society divided by his rule. Even today, many people in China are still too scared to express their true sentiments about Zedong.
Nero
The Roman emperor Nero is one of the most notorious tyrants of the ancient world. Nero allegedly started the Fires of Rome, which destroyed much of the city, and blamed it on the Christians, so he could justify his subsequent mass persecution of this religious group. Nero’s violence towards ancient Christians was babaric, and reports from the time described how he would torture them by burning them alive and executing them en masse.
Nero, like modern and contemporary dictators, ruled through paranoia and suppression. He would create trials of treason that led to the execution of his perceived opponents; he neglected his administrative responsibilities leading to the death of many people and the instability of the empire’ and he orchestrated especially brutal executions as he liked.
Due to its dissatisfaction with his rule, the military eventually started to rise up against him, which ultimately led to his fall. Nero died by suicide in 68 AD, leaving the Roman Empire in chaos and beginning the year of the Four Emperors, which went on to become one of the most unstable periods in Rome’s history.
Leopold II of Belgium
While often forgotten by history, Leopold II of Belgium’s rule over the Congo Free State, a huge swathe of central Africa, committed some of the worst human rights violations in history. To extract rubber and increase his personal wealth, he forced millions of Congolese people to labor in extremely poor conditions. His tyrannical policies in the region caused the death of an estimated 10 million people.
His militarized subjugation of the Congo would mark the destruction of many communities and included atrocities such as mutilating men, women, and children for not meeting their rubber quotas. Leopold II left behind a legacy of trauma that continues to scar what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. The economic, political and social impact of his brutal reign can still be seen to this day.
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan, the first Khan of the Mongols, unified the Mongol tribes and conquered large parts of China and Siberia. While his empire was one of the greatest in human history, it was created through sheer brutality. Although he allowed for many of the lands he occupied keep their regional governments intact and to maintain their religious freedom, he and his horde would also murder, rape, enslave, and pillage.
Khan was responsible for an estimated 20 to 40 million deaths in his lifetime and would leave behind a legacy of rule through fear. He used terror tactics including murder, rape, and enslavement of anyone resisted his conquest and even wiped out whole cities as a warning to others. His siege tactics were also meant to inspire fear: his men would use human shields and he would also catapult plague-infested corpses over city walls.