Worst 20th century dictator?

[MasterJedi]

I voted other because Mao killed more people than Hitler and Stalin combined!

[Blue Rectangle]

Gotta go with Pol Pot on this one.

If we go by measures based on killings per year and killings per population, then Pol Pot "wins" by a mile.

Based on what Putin has said recently about Stalin, though, I have to vote Stalin purely for opposition to this kind of thinking.

[Erc]

Stalin.  On principle (hey, I'm a conservative, I have to...).

But once you're trying to choose the lesser of two evils between Stalin and Hitler, you know you've got a problem on your hands.

[Jake]

You don't have the means to do it.

J.J.: This is what Hitler planned on doing once the war was hypothetically won. All of Eastern Europe would be turned into serfs for the German Empire, and those not fit to work would be exterminated to make room for German settlers. The planned number was 65 million.

Obviously, neither did Hitler. So, what's your arguement again?

[AkSaber]

Mao.  Of those listed, Stalin.

Same here.

[Gustaf]

How do you define worse?
1. Worse as in least competent?
2. Worse for the world?
3. Or worse for his own country?

1st is probably Mussolini, 3rd probably Pol Pot and 2nd Hitler or Stalin, probably Hitler.

[MaC]

Joe Stalin.  As for numbers, he's got the most.  All things considered, he's about equally as grizzly as Hitler, however his grusome work just doesn't get the historical attention that the concentration camps run by Hitler get.

[skybridge]

Stalin is still a hero. Hitler is still remembered. Saddam wishes he was a legend. Franco was abit crazy. Mussolini was one hell of a dictator. Kim Jong Il - history still has to write his story. The guy from Cambodia made saddam look a mug.

But I`m going for Stalin. Sacred the hell out of everyone. Killed 20 million russians. No country suffered more than the USSR during WW2.

Stalin is still remembered.
Hitler is still feared (if not secretly admired by some...)
Saddam is the most defamed legendary Muslim underwear model.
Franco was neutral.
Mussolini was defeat (hell, he BARELY captured ETHIOPIA!!)
Jong Il - agreed.
Pol Pot killed between a fourth and a third of his entire population!

So the race is between Pol Pot who has best genocide ratio, and Stalin who has by far the most killings to account far (or as he would call it--a statistic).

I voted Stalin. He was lucky to be on the Allied side and developed an unprecedented cult persona.

[Beet]

How many people died in the European theater due to Hitler's war and genocides between 1939-1945? Compare that to the number killed by Stalin during the purges and famines.

Anyways, interestingly enough, many people still admire Stalin for his strength in lifting up Russia. Had Russia's economy not self-destructed in the 1990s, that might not be the case. But it is. Another failure of the unrestrained neoliberal "market" economics of that era.

[CARLHAYDEN]

This thread really should have included Mao Tse Tung and Idi Amin, and excluded Franco and Mussolini.

On a scale of rate of persons murdered per year, Franco and Mussolini don't even beging to compete with the others.

A better rank ordering would be:

Pol Pot (the clear champion of genocide)
Idi Amin
Adolf Hitler
Mao Tse Tung
Josef Stalin
Kim Jong Il
Saddam Hussein

Benito Mussolini (Wasn't even head of state)
Francisco Franco (a Caudillo, not a dictator)

[they don't love you like i love you]

I'd rank those:

Hitler
Pol Pot
Stalin
Mao
Kim Jong-Il
Idi Amin
Saddam Hussein

As bad as Idi Amin was, you can't put him up that high above Stalin, Mao and Hitler, although he should've been included on the poll.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Stalin ruled 30 years. Hitler ruled 12 years. The absolute number of people murdered by Stalin is higher than the number murdered by Hitler. But the Hitler’s annual murdering rate was higher than Stalin’s. The main reason for the Stalin’s murders was his paranoia about these “anti Communist” people. The base for Hitler’s murders was the inferiority of the murdered people race. So who is winning this competition?
An interesting question.

Are you sure? Between World War II, and the Holocaust, Hitler killed many tens of millions.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Hitler had Parkinsons disease. If you look at any films involving him hes always holding his left hand with his right hand from around 1943 as if he didnt it would always shake - a sign of parkinsons disease.

Janet Reno has had that for about 10 years. In other words, you don't immediately die from it.

[WMS]

I'd rank those:

Hitler
Pol Pot
Stalin
Mao
Kim Jong-Il
Idi Amin
Saddam Hussein

As bad as Idi Amin was, you can't put him up that high above Stalin, Mao and Hitler, although he should've been included on the poll.

I may have mentioned this some time before, but:
Don't forget Masie Nguema of Equatorial Guinea or Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcia of Guatemala...

[they don't love you like i love you]

I really know nothing about those guys other than that I will never try to pronounce their names.

[WMS]

I really know nothing about those guys other than that I will never try to pronounce their names.

I got the name of the first one slightly wrong...

Good old Wikipedia:

Francisco Macías Nguema.

Wikipedia has very little on Lucas and the History of Guatemala article is rather biased - Montt's regime was NOT the most violent in the Guatemalan civil war, for why else would the Mayan countryside VOTE for him in actual free elections?!

Suffice it to say that Romeo Lucas was the bastard mostly responsible for the genocide against the Mayans in Guatemala - despite revisionist attempts by left and right alike to put all the blame on Montt.

[they don't love you like i love you]

hmmm, that first guy sounds pretty loopy, unfortunately that's not too uncommon in Africa.

And like I said earlier there should've been a mention of Enver Hoxha, who'd I put right after Mao. North Korea today is based on that guy more than anything else, plus he was basically Stalin-lite, he only doesn't have as much noteriety because he had a much smaller country, regardless he was able to transform it into a mini-1984 completely cut off from the rest of the world.

And there was also Ceausescu. OK he may not exactly rank up with the rest of them but I've always been "fond" of him because as far as all dictators' stories go, his has the most dramatic and happiest ending

[WMS]

hmmm, that first guy sounds pretty loopy, unfortunately that's not too uncommon in Africa.

And like I said earlier there should've been a mention of Enver Hoxha, who'd I put right after Mao. North Korea today is based on that guy more than anything else, plus he was basically Stalin-lite, he only doesn't have as much noteriety because he had a much smaller country, regardless he was able to transform it into a mini-1984 completely cut off from the rest of the world.

And there was also Ceausescu. OK he may not exactly rank up with the rest of them but I've always been "fond" of him because as far as all dictators' stories go, his has the most dramatic and happiest ending

Hoxha and Ceausescu are both fine choices.

[??????????]

Why isn't LBJ or FDR listed on here?

[Bono]

I demand Salazar to be included.

[Blue Rectangle]

I demand Salazar to be included.

Ken or John?

[Bono]

I demand Salazar to be included.

Ken or John?

Tony.