Top 5 cruelest leaders of all time

If we look into history, there have been several cruel and ruthless dictators whose regimes were known for violence, repression and brutal killings of millions of people. Here are some of the cruelest dictators of all time.

Adolf Hitler Germany — Image credit:

Adolf Hitler (Germany)

During Hitler's regime around 17 million people lost their lives, including six million Jews in the Holocaust. His aggressive theory of expansionism triggered World War II, during which tens of millions of people lost their lives.

Benito Mussolini — Image credit:

Benito Mussolini

His fascist regime was defamed for several human rights abuses, such as massacres of ethnic minorities in Africa.

Kim Il sung North Korea — Image credit:

Kim Il-sung (North Korea)

He is considered responsible for mass executions. His policies led to the deaths of millions.

Pol Pot Cambodia — Image credit:

Pol Pot (Cambodia)

Pol Pot was the leader of Khmer Rouge, who orchestrated the Cambodian genocide, which killed around 2 million people. His regime was known for forced labour, starvation and executions.

Joseph Stalin Soviet Union — Image credit:

Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)

Stalin’s regime was remembered for forced labour camps and one of the most brutal campaigns of repression. The famine of 1932–33 and political purges in 1930s led to an estimated 20 to 30 million deaths.

Mao Zedong China — Image credit:

Mao Zedong (China)

Policies like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution are estimated to have killed around 45 million people.