Who was the most evil man in history?

[Coolmore]

Well Oliver Cromwell wasn't very nice to the Irish in the 17th Century

 

[BananaLee]

I love that Ptolemy comparison.... , but you forgot Mao.......

Mao was actually quite a decent chap, really. A little bit crazy, and he reckoned that making homemade steel was the way to go, but relatively harmless...
Well, famines and all were bad but... Okay.. I'm talking in circles.

Point is, iIt was his wife that caused all the trouble....

 

[QuoVadisNation]

I’ve always considered the great men of history to be simply reflections of the political reflections of their time and nation. This isn’t to say that I would gladly refer to Hitler as ‘great’ but rather his quality of evil is honestly compared through the victor’s stand point. Nevertheless, I would have to say Attila the Hun simply due to the belief that unlike any other fascists, he openly said he was ‘the plight of God’. heh

 

[luiz]

Mao was actually quite a decent chap, really. A little bit crazy, and he reckoned that making homemade steel was the way to go, but relatively harmless...
Well, famines and all were bad but... Okay.. I'm talking in circles.

Point is, iIt was his wife that caused all the trouble....

Relatively harmless?

Even if we blame the famines in his great stupidity and not in his evilness, what about the Cultural Revolution, where all dissenting voices were silenced forever?

Mao was one of the most harmful leaders in history.

 

[BananaLee]

luiz, the Cultural Revolution was not brought by Mao, rather it was by the Gang of Four, led by Mao's wife who built up the 'cult of Mao'.

 

[luiz]

I never heard of that, but I have heard of Mao proposing and supporting the CR.

I would be interested in more information about what you said.

 

[REDY]

Mao,Stalin and Hitler. Now Bush.

 

[luiz]

Mao,Stalin and Hitler. Now Bush.

You think Bush is the most evil of all modern leaders?

 

[superisis]

Point is, iIt was his wife that caused all the trouble....

some people (i.e. many zimbabweans) blame Mugabe's acts as the whims of his (new) wife.

I would have to say Attila the Hun simply due to the belief that unlike any other fascists, he openly said he was ‘the plight of God’. heh

so did Ghengis, read my sig.

 

[REDY]

He not most evil leader but he have most influence to evil on planet. But its hard to be American president.

 

[BananaLee]

I never heard of that, but I have heard of Mao proposing and supporting the CR.

I would be interested in more information about what you said.

Mao kicked off the cultural revolution to get rid of his political opponents. However, most of the policies were carried out by the Gang of Four.
Wikipedia - Gang of Four
These people (there were six in reality) were the ones assigned by Mao to put forth the cult of Mao.
Mao started the ball rolling, but the Gang of Four caused the ball to keep on rolling. After reading up some more on the Cultural Revolution, I have to admit that I could have been influenced by the Communist Party's point-of-view, so my argument is still pretty shaky.

 

[superisis]

a good book on the CR (not a history book) is the three person biography titled "Wild Swans". The author writes about her grandmother, her mother and her self. Quite facinating book, though ofcourse out of one (or arguably three) women's perspective, thus should not be interpreted as anything else.

 

[Fox Mccloud]

He not most evil leader but he have most influence to evil on planet. But its hard to be American president.

What? What are you talking about, Mr. Lack an avatar?

 

[Riesstiu IV]

Interesting... Ivan the Terrible and George W. Bush are tied at the moment.

 

[luiz]

Yep, it's pretty interesting that Dubya got more votes then the likes of the Great Khan, Lenin, Mao, Mussolini and Saddam Hussein.

 

[TrailblazingScot]

One of the critical differences between Stalin and Hitler was that Stalin kept those around in him fear. If you were loyal to Stalin you still could end up dead, if you were close to him you'd still be put through many tortures such as being forced to drink till you'd piss yourself.

Hitler on the other hand, may have started WW2, may have been responsible for genocide of the Jews and many other ethnic groups such as gypsies, but to those around him he was on the whole decent to. He wouldn't make great tests of loyalty, order people to be shot on a whim, nor make purges of his own ranks.

I think it would be far easier to work under/with Hitler than with Stalin, as Stalin would have you constantly terrified unless you are some unnatural bastard like Beria.

 

[superisis]

unless you are disqualified by birth... then there would be no way you could work under hitler.

 

[TrailblazingScot]

unless you are disqualified by birth... then there would be no way you could work under hitler.

Yeah, but at least you knew where you stood, with Stalin being loyal and doing the best you could brought no safety!

 

[minionman]

Pol Pot. The government philosophies of Stalin and Hitler plus some extra ideas, killed off a much higher percentabge of the population, and did it in less time than anyone else, so leave the Khmer Rouge in power more and they would have done way more damage. Plus the country gets left even poorer afterwards, so nothing good comes out of it.

"Stalin and Hitler put together" means the Khmer rouge killed richer people, plus vietnamese, chinese, and other non khmers, plus did the usual purges of the party.

 

[superisis]

but at least you knew where you stood,

I'm sure that was a very satisfying thought to all those in Tre Blinka.