From Stalin to Hitler, the most murderous regimes in the world




The 20th century witnessed death and slaughter on an unprecedented scale.



It was the century of the Holocaust and two World Wars; of communist, Nazi, fascist and military dictators who between them killed more than 100 million people.

Scroll down for the leaders themselves, listed in order of the numbers who died as a result of their rule.



The casualties of conflicts involving the U.S., the UK and France in Korea, Algeria, Vietnam, the Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq are excluded on the grounds that, though many would view these as unjust colonial wars by ‘imperialist’ powers, they weren’t fought by dictators.

Indeed, when the wars proved unpopular or unwinnable, they were brought to an end by the pressure of public opinion.

Mao Zedong: Victims 60 million Joseph Stalin: Victims 40 million Adolf Hitler: Victims 30 million

1 MAO ZEDONG



China (1949-76) Regime Communist Victims 60 million



China’s so-called ‘Great Helmsman’ was in fact the greatest mass murderer in history. Most of his victims were his fellow Chinese, murdered as ‘landlords’ after the communist takeover, starved in his misnamed ‘Great Leap Forward’ of 1958-61, or killed and tortured in labour camps in the Cultural Revolution of the Sixties. Mao’s rule, with its economic mismanagement and continual political upheavals, also spelled poverty for most of China’s untold millions. The country embraced capitalism long after his death.

2 JOSEPH STALIN



Soviet Union (1929-53) Regime Communist Victims 40 million



Lenin’s paranoid successor was the runner-up to Mao in the mass-murder stakes. Stalin imposed a deliberate famine on Ukraine, killed millions of the wealthier peasants – or ‘kulaks’ – as he forced them off their land, and purged his own party, shooting thousands and sending millions more to work as slaves and perish in the Gulag.

3 ADOLF HITLER



Germany (1933-45) Regime Nazi dictatorship Victims 30 million



The horror of Adolf Hitler’s dictatorship lies in the uniqueness of his most notorious crime, the Holocaust, which stands alone in the annals of inhuman cruelty. It was carried out under the cover of World War II, a conflict Hitler pursued with the goal of obtaining ‘Lebensraum’. The war ended up costing millions of lives, leaving Europe devastated and his Third Reich in ruins.

KING LEOPOLD II Belgium (1886-1908)

Regime Colonial empire in Congo

Victims Eight million enslaved Congolese HIDEKI TOJO

Japan (1941-45)

Regime Military dictatorship

Victims Five million (Japan’s victims in World War II) ISMAIL ENVER PASHA

Ottoman Turkey (1915-20)

Regime Military dictatorship

Victims Two million (Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians)

POL POT

Cambodia (1975-79)

Regime Communist (Khmer Rouge)

Victims At least 1.7 million (political opponents) KIM ILSUNG

North Korea (1948-94) Regime Communist

Victims At least 1.6 million (political opponents/civilians through famine) MENGISTU HAILE MARIAM

Ethiopia (1974-78)

Regime Communist military dictatorship

Victims 1.5 million (Eritreans/political opponents)

YAKUBU GOWON

Nigeria (1967-70)

Regime Military dictatorship

Victims One million (Biafrans starved and soldiers killed in civil war) JEAN KAMBANDA

Rwanda (1994)

Regime Tribal dictatorship (Hutu)

Victims 800,000 (Tutsis) SADDAM HUSSEIN

Iraq (1979-2003)

Regime Ba’ath Party dictatorship

Victims 600,000 (Shi’ites, Kurds, Kuwaitis, political opponents)

JOSIP BROZ TITO

Yugoslavia (1945-80) Regime Communist

Victims 570,000 (political opponents) SUKARNO

Indonesia (1945-66)

Regime Nationalist dictatorship

Victims 500,000 (Communists) MULLAH OMAR

Afghanistan (1996-2001)

Regime Islamist dictatorship (Taliban)

Victims 400,000 (political/religious opponents)

IDI AMIN

Uganda (1971-79)

Regime Personal dictatorship

Victims 300,000-500,000 (political/personal opponents) GENERAL YAHYA KHAN

Pakistan (1970-71)

Regime Military dictatorship

Victims 300,000 (Bengalis in East Pakistan) BENITO MUSSOLINI

Italy (1922-45)

Regime Fascist dictatorship Victims 250,000 (Ethiopians, Libyans, Jews, political opponents)

GENERAL MOBUTU SESE SEKO

Zaire/Congo (1965-97)

Regime Personal dictatorship Victims 230,000 (political opponents) CHARLES TAYLOR

Liberia (1989-96) Regime Personal dictatorship

Victims 220,000 (political/military opponents and civilians) FODAY SANKOH

Sierra Leone (1991-2000)

Regime Personal dictatorship

Victims 210,000 (political opponents)

HO CHI MINH

North Vietnam (1945-69)

Regime Communist

Victims 200,000 (political opponents, South Vietnamese) MICHEL MICOMBERO Burundi (1966-76)

Regime Personal dictatorship

Victims 150,000 (Hutus) HASSAN ALTURABI

Sudan (1989-99) Regime Islamist dictatorship

Victims 100,000 (political/religious opponents)

JEAN-BEDEL BOKASSA

Central African Republic/Empire (1966-79)

Regime Personal dictatorship

Victims 90,000 (political opponents) EFRAIN RIOS MONTT

Guatemala (1982-83)

Regime Military dictatorship

Victims 70,000 (peasants, political opponents) FRANCOIS/ JEANCLAUDE DUVALIER

Haiti (‘Papa Doc’ 1957-71; ‘Baby Doc’ 1971-86) Regime Personal dictatorship

Victims 60,000 (political opponents

RAFAEL TRUJILLO

Dominican Republic (1930-61)

Regime Personal dictatorship

Victims 50,000 (political opponents) HISSENE HABRE

Chad (1982-90)

Regime Military dictatorship

Victims 40,000 (political opponents) GENERAL FRANCISCO FRANCO

Spain (1939-75) Regime Fascist/military dictatorship

Victims 35,000 (political opponents

FIDEL CASTRO

Cuba (1959-2006)

Regime Communist

Victims 30,000 (political opponents) HAFEZ/ BASHAR ALASSAD

Syria (Hafez 1970- 2000; Bashar 2000-)

Regime Ba’ath Party dictatorship

Victims 25,000- 30,000 (political/ sectarian opponents AYATOLLAH RUHOLLAH KHOMEINI

Iran (1979-1989)

Regime Islamist dictatorship

Victims 20,000 (political/religious opponents)

ROBERT MUGABE

Zimbabwe (1982-)

Regime Personal dictatorship

Victims 15,000 (political/tribal opponents) GENERAL JORGE VIDELA

Argentina (1976-83)

Regime Military dictatorship

Victims 13,000 (left-wing political opponents) GENERAL AUGUSTO PINOCHET Chile (1973-90)

Regime Military dictatorship

Victims 3,000 (political opponents)



