History has had its fair share of evil dictators; Military leaders, and political officials, who are renowned for their brutal policies, harsh treatment of civilians, and their murderous and genocidal campaigns. Here are the 10 most evil dictators in History.

Table of Contents

1. Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong, also known as Chairman Mao was a communist revolutionary and one of the most evil dictators in history. He founded and led the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1949 to 1976. Solidifying his control of the republic, Mao established numerous repressive programs all of which resulted in the deaths of several million Chinese people.

In 1955, Mao launched the Sufan movement, and the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1957, leading to the persecution of 550,000. In 1958, he launched the Great Leap Forward which aimed to rapidly transform China’s economy from agrarian to industrial, which led to the deadliest famine in history and the deaths of 15–55 million people between 1958 and 1962.

Mao’s infamous Cultural Revolution was initiated in 1966. The program lasted 10 years and was marked by violent class struggles and widespread destruction. Tens of millions of people were persecuted and an estimated millions of deaths. Mao’s government was responsible for vast numbers of deaths, with estimates ranging from 40 to 80 million victims through starvation, persecution, prison labor, and mass executions.

2. Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He is no doubt one of the most evil dictators in History. Hitler rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933. He was responsible for transforming the German Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism.

Hitler led German expansionism in Europe and his aggressive foreign policy is considered the primary cause of World War II in Europe. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust. He aimed to eliminate Jews from Germany and establish a New Order to counter what he saw as the injustice of the post-World War I international order dominated by Britain and France.

Hitler is described as “the embodiment of modern political evil” by historians. Under his leadership and racist ideology, the Nazi regime was responsible for the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims. Hitler and the Nazi regime were also responsible for the killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in Europe.

3. Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until he died in 1953. He assumed leadership over the Soviet Union following Lenin’s death in 1924. Under Stalin, the union underwent agricultural collectivization and rapid industrialization, creating a centralized command economy.

Severe disruptions to food production contributed to the famine of 1930–1933 that killed millions. To eradicate “enemies of the working class”, Stalin instituted the Great Purge, in which over a million were imprisoned, largely in the Gulag system of forced labor camps, and at least 700,000 were executed by government agents between 1936 and 1938.

Stalin is considered one of the most evil dictators in History. Following the world war, the Union experienced another major famine and an antisemitic campaign. After Stalin died in 1953, he was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev, who subsequently denounced his rule and initiated the de-Stalinisation of Soviet society.

4. Pol Pot

Pol Pot was a Cambodian revolutionary, dictator, who ruled Cambodia as Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea between 1976 and 1979. Before his emergence as the leader of Cambodia, pot was a leading member of Cambodia’s communist movement, the Khmer Rouge. His administration perpetrated the Cambodian genocide, making him one of the most evil dictators in History.

Pol Pot transformed Cambodia into a one-party state which he called Democratic Kampuchea. Seeking to create an agrarian socialist society that he believed would evolve into a communist society, Pol Pot’s government forcibly relocated the urban population to the countryside and forced it to work on collective farms. Pursuing complete egalitarianism, money was abolished and all citizens were forced to wear the same black clothing.

Mass killings of perceived government opponents, coupled with malnutrition and poor medical care, killed between 1.5 and 2 million people, a quarter of Cambodia’s population. Pol Pot was widely denounced internationally for his role in the genocide and was also regarded as a totalitarian dictator who was guilty of crimes against humanity. His government was eventually toppled following Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia in 1978.

5. Kim II Sung

Kim II Sung was a Korean dictator and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country’s establishment in 1948 until he died in 1994 after which he was declared eternal president. He was the third-longest serving non-royal head of state/government in the 20th century, in office for more than 45 years.

Under his leadership, North Korea was established as a totalitarian socialist state with a centrally planned economy. It had close political and economic relations with the Soviet Union. Coming to power after the end of Japanese rule over Korea in 1945, he authorized the invasion of South Korea in 1950, triggering an intervention in defense of South Korea by the United Nations led by the United States.

The war led to the death of over 3 million people including 12-15% of North Korea’s population. Subsequent Stalinist economic policies and widespread repression led to poverty and famine in which hundreds of thousands died. At the 6th WPK Congress in 1980, his oldest son Kim Jong Il was elected to be a Presidium member and chosen to be his successor, thus establishing the Kim dynasty.

6. Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who was the fifth president of Iraq, from July 1979 until April 2003. Following President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr’s resignation in 1979, Saddam formally took power in 1979, although he had already been the de facto head of Iraq for several years.

Saddam’s rule was marked by numerous human rights abuses, including an estimated 250,000 arbitrary killings. He instituted mass genocide against the Kurds, Shabaks, Assyrians, Madeans, and other ethnic groups that rebelled against his brutal regime. An estimated 2 million people died at his hand. He used mustard and nerve gas against the Kurdish town of Halabja, killing over 100,000 people

In September 1980, Saddam abrogated the Algiers Agreement and invaded Iran, marking the start of the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), which resulted in the death of over 1 million people on both sides. He also accused its ally Kuwait of slant-drilling Iraqi oil fields and occupying Kuwait, initiating the Gulf War (1990–1991). He was eventually arrested, tried, and convicted by an Iraqi court of crimes and sentenced to death by hanging.

7. Idi Amin

Idi Amin was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most evil dictators in modern world history. min’s rule was characterized by rampant human rights abuses, including political repression, ethnic persecution, and extrajudicial killings, as well as nepotism, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement.

During his years in power, International observers and human rights groups estimate that between 100,000 and 500,000 people were killed under his regime. In 1972, Amin expelled Asians, a majority of whom were Indian-Ugandans, leading India to sever diplomatic relations with his regime. The United Kingdom broke diplomatic relations with Uganda in 1977, and Amin declared that he had defeated the British and added “CBE” to his title of “Conqueror of the British Empire”

As Amin’s rule progressed into the late 1970s, there was increased unrest against his persecution of certain ethnic groups and political dissidents. He then attempted to annex Tanzania’s Kagera Region in 1978. The Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere ordered his troops to invade Uganda in response. Tanzanian Army and rebel forces successfully captured Kampala in 1979 and ousted Amin from power. Amin went into exile, first in Libya, then Iraq, and finally in Saudi Arabia, where he lived until he died in 2003.

8. Gengis Khan

Genghis Khan was the founder and first khagan of the Mongol Empire, which later became the largest contiguous land empire in history. Having spent the majority of his life uniting the Mongol tribes, he launched a series of military campaigns which conquered large parts of China and Central Asia. The Mongol campaigns started by Genghis Khan saw widespread destruction and millions of deaths in the areas they conquered.

Uniting the entire Mongol tribes, Genghis set out on a campaign of conquest. Having the Western Xia state by 1211, he then invaded the Jin dynasty in northern China, forcing the Jin emperor to abandon the northern half of his kingdom in 1214. Mongol forces annexed the Qara Khitai Khanate in 1218, allowing Genghis to lead an invasion of the neighboring Khwarazmian Empire the following year.

9. Vlad the Impaler

Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He was the second son of Vlad Dracul, who became the ruler of Wallachia in 1436. He is often considered one of the most important rulers in Wallachian history. Vlad is popularly known for his cruel acts and brutal punishments. It’s estimated that he killed anywhere between 40,000 to 100,000 people.

Vlad has a “fetish” for impaling his victims, by inserting a wood or metal pole through the body. He also drove nails through his victim’s heads, as well as burned, beheaded, roasted children alive, and then fed them to their mothers, mutilation, and countless other atrocities. It’s rumored that he would dip his bread in blood before eating it and often enjoyed eating feasts with his impaled victims around him.

In one of his campaigns, Vlad came into conflict with the Transylvanian Saxons, who supported his opponents. Vlad plundered the Saxon villages, taking the captured people to Wallachia, where he had them impaled. On another occasion he attacked the Ottoman territory, massacring tens of thousands of Turks and Muslim Bulgarians. Vlad was held in captivity in Visegrád from 1463 to 1475. He was released at the request of Stephen III of Moldavia in 1475 and was killed in battle before 10 January 1477.

10. Ivan the Terrible

Ivan IV Vasilyevich commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, was the Grand Prince of Moscow and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 until he died in 1584. He was the son of Vasili III and succeeded him after his death. Ivan’s reign was characterized by Russia’s transformation from a medieval state to an empire under the tsar but at an immense cost to its people and its broader, long-term economy.

As his name implies, Ivan the Terrible was a ruthless individual renowned for systematically slaughtering and butchering his subjects (along with the people he conquered). Suffering from extreme paranoia and mental deterioration throughout his reign, Ivan was renowned for his ferocious temper and would often kill his subordinates during unprovoked fits of rage (including his son).

In other instances of brutality, Ivan was known to mercilessly execute those he viewed as potential enemies. One of his worst crimes included the burning of Novgorod (a chief rival of Moscow) to the ground, leaving 12,000 dead. Ivan also enjoyed torturing his enemies (especially the aristocracy and church officials), who he would often have burned at the stake, or boiled alive in vats of hot water. In total, it is believed that Ivan the Terrible was responsible for over 60,000 murders during his time in power.

Top 10 Most Evil Dictators In History.