Who was the biggest mass murderer in history?

[Theige]

Originally posted by Shady
Truman can't compete quantitatively but ooooh when those 2 mushrooms get up in the air, then it's gettin hot and ruthless. That man should hang by today's standards for using MWD that way but back then international and humanitarian moralism wasn't as present as it is today.

I think the opposite of Truman, he saved the lives of about 3.8 million Japanese, as that was the estimated number of Japanese to be killed in an American Invasion. Add the one million american lives he saved by not invading and that's a lot of lives that otherwise would be lost.

 

[joespaniel]

The Japanese did quite a number on their neighbors between 1931 and 1945.

I cant find any hard numbers, yet, but they were brutal and ruthless.

A small taste: Link

 

[Knight-Dragon]

Originally posted by joespaniel
The Japanese did quite a number on their neighbors between 1931 and 1945.

I cant find any hard numbers, yet, but they were brutal and ruthless.

A small taste: Link

They dragged away and machine-gunned 50000 or so male military-aged Chinese in Singapore alone, due to the overseas Chinese support for the Chinese war effort. I'm sure the atrocities were repeated elsewhere, around SE Asia. My housemate had a few maternal uncles among those 50000.

During the rape of Nanjing, the Japanese killed off a couple of hundred thousand Chinese civilians, 'cause the Nationalist armies put up a surprisingly determined fight a few weeks earlier when the Japanese attacked Shanghai and the Lower Yangzi. Their officers held 'beheading' contests, to see who could behead the most Chinese in timed conditions, with their officers' katana (long Japanese swords).

Had it not been for the couple of Germans and Americans who set up a 'protection zone' to safeguard the Chinese, more would have died.

What I find most unamusing over the whole episode, is that the Japanese govt refuse to acknowledge that such atrocities had taken place, even today. And they gloss over many details in their school textbooks, so young Japanese grow up knowing nothing of what Japan did during the war, or why many neighbouring Asian countries don't really like them, esp the older folks.

 

[Cecasander]

Ghengis Kahn is supposed to have killed about 30 million Chinese, and a lot of other people as well, so he'll be on top.
Mao Zedong is expected to have killed 23 million, Stalin about 15-20 million and Hitler 'only' 6 million.
European colonists did kill a lot of natives, but the United States killed a lot of indians too, when it was independent. Also, the US killed about 4 million citizens in the Vietnam war.
Pol Pot killed about 2 million people.

With these guys, Saddam Hussayn looks like a nice guy
(and Milosevic would be a humanitairy hero)

 

[andvruss]

I would say Mao would be the worst mass murderer of all time. Although Stalin killed a lot of his own people (estimated 20-50 million in his 'Great Purges'), raping 11 year old girls isn't really the the characteristics of a great leader, which Mao did. He also killed millions (don't know approximately how many) of his own Chinese people.

 

[Dark Ascendant]

Hitler is above all others because he had the intent of killing all European Jews. The only reason there were 6 millions Jews killed was because the Third Reich was crumbing, if Adolf Hilter remained in power longer and had more time to inplement the Final Solution, the death toll would have climbed higher than Stalin's or even Mao's. He sent the Jews into the death camps, he would have done the same to homosexuals, Gypsies and all other ethnic groups and races that weren't Ayran enough.

 

[Knight-Dragon]

Originally posted by andvruss
I would say Mao would be the worst mass murderer of all time. Although Stalin killed a lot of his own people (estimated 20-50 million in his 'Great Purges'), raping 11 year old girls isn't really the the characteristics of a great leader, which Mao did. He also killed millions (don't know approximately how many) of his own Chinese people.

I'd like to know where you got the reference that Mao raped 11 year old girls.

Mao caused the death of a lot of Chinese, but that's because of his terrible policies. Not the effect of any conscious attempt at rounding up a couple of million Chinese and shooting them. He was a great leader, but a lousy administrator.

 

[Phantom Lord]

Hitler. Besides killing 6 million in concentration camps he is solely responsible for WW2, which caused another 60 million deaths.

 

[barron of ideas]

NO, Who is on First. He isn't a mass murderer.

 

[AccessDenied]

It's crazy to think that Stalin killed millions.
Thousands were killed, maybe tens of thousands at max.
Most people who died at that time in USSR died because of hunger.

 

[wilbill]

Here's my theory: These guys are all sitting around their special brimstone pit in Hell right now. Their punishment is to argue throughout eternity about which of them killed the most people. And after reading this thread, I actually envy them.

 

[West German]

Per capita, Pol Pot

But Stalin killed the most.

 

[El Tee]

I agree with some of the posts here:

Per capita w/ respect to population as a whole - Pol Pot

In general - Stalin

Greatest quantity intended (if plans fully completed) - Hitler

Mao is right up there with Stalin, and I've heard of the 11-year old girl reference before, I believe in some book I read in college. I couldn't tell what the title was though. There is (or was) a belief in China that virgins would revitalize the soul, center your chi, that kind of thing - and therefore were to be prized by those in power, especially Mao...I think you can see where I'm going with this, so I won't continue. Wasn't just 11 year olds, either...

Though I can't cite a specific reference more than having read it at some point.

My grandmother (who lived through WW2) would tell us stories that essentially spoke to the inhumanity of the invading Japanese, about hiding to escape from Japanese soldiers for fear of their lives. There wasn't any *one* soldier, but so many of them participating in slaughter both in China and other areas where they conquered that spread out the mass killings.

As far as Hussein and Milosevic are concerned - didn't they share a similar nickname - the Butcher of Baghdad and the Butcher of Belgrade?

 

[amadeus]

Originally posted by AccessDenied
It's crazy to think that Stalin killed millions.
Thousands were killed, maybe tens of thousands at max.
Most people who died at that time in USSR died because of hunger.

Stalin industrialized by seizing and selling grain on the international market to purchase the heavy machinery, which this eqiupment came at the expense of the farmers who grew those crops, who starved.

 

[PinkyGen]

Stalin numerically killed the most, though you have to bear in mind that he had a lot more time to kill people than Hitler.

 

[Benderino]

I think many are forgetting that during the Third Punic War, when Rome invaded Carthage, the Roman soldiers went door-to-door (In the city of Carthage) and eventually slew so many that it has been referred to as the greatest mass killing prior to any that occurred around the time of World War II. Then, of course, they salted the land so that nothing could grow their again

 

[pi8ch]

"Mass Murder"

At first we have to define what this means!

a) He killed "with his own hands" (like jack the Ripper)
b) He ordered to kill (All Dictators I know and many others in leading position)
c) He started or organized / planned a war where people died (All Leaders that where leaders in War times.)

If you go by c) nealry everybody of the known leaders was a murderer then. Roosevelt and Curchill would fi into that as well as Hilter and Stalin, simply becuase tehy ordered actions that lead to death...

But I think we are sseking for number b): Someone who murdered people NOT IN A WAR.

There we have Hitler, Mao Zedung and Stalin as example of the last centruy, but there are many of them.

Once I read in a book that Stalin outnumbered Hitler by millions. Thats easy: 1) Stalin had far more time, 2) Stalin ruled over far more people.
The same for Mao Zedoung, so he outnumbered Stalin.

In Southamerica there had been some of them..
In all Dictatorships it was common...

 

[PantheraTigris2]

Well, what about that asteroid that hit near the Yucatan 65 million years ago?
Wouldn't IT be the "biggest mass murderer" of all time? I don't think Hitler/Stalin/Mao combined could even BEGIN to compete...

 

[Dark Ascendant]

Originally posted by PantheraTigris2
Well, what about that asteroid that hit near the Yucatan 65 million years ago?
Wouldn't IT be the "biggest mass murderer" of all time? I don't think Hitler/Stalin/Mao combined could even BEGIN to compete...

Let us assume that the mass murderer is a human being.

 

[PantheraTigris2]

That would be Mao, then, who was responsible for the killing of 45 million Chinese.