In history, where many compassionate leaders made the world better with their sovereignty and fine leadership, perseverance and hard work. Unfortunately, many others paved their way to the jeopardy. They chose violence, terror and agony over tranquillity as their primary weapon to seize and maintain chaos in the world. These unfortunate leaders are remembered and cursed in history, how they used their power to cause immense destruction, suffering, deaths, curses and misery to the world. These horrifying events have been responsible for the deaths and casualties in masses of millions of people. Through their barbarous ideologies, they ushered a catastrophic blow to the entire humanity.
Sometimes technology is not the only one to be blamed but the cruel leaders who relied on the deadly technologies of warfare, destroying the world. Regardless, as mentioned in the pages of history not 100% verified, we have mentioned the world’s top 10 most lethal leaders as follows:
Ismail Enver Pasha:
His name might not be too popularly mentioned in the history books but he took an active part in warfare military during World War I. He was an initiator of the Armenian Genocide 1915-1917.
He bought tyranny by teaming up with the allies (Germany) in World War I to take up on the world leading to the massacre of 40 million deaths. Pasha formed a ruling trio of Ottoman leaders during World War I, which consisted of Mehmet Talat, Enver Pasha, and Djemal Pasha known as the “Three Pashas”.
They initiated nihilist policies that caused ethnic cleansing of the Armenian Genocide, suppressed the Christians and caused suffering leading to the downfall of the Ottoman Empire.
Yahya Khan:
Yahya Khan served as Pakistan’s third president (1969-1971), previously Commander in Chief of the Pakistan Army. He was the instigator of the Bangladesh genocide in 1971. After independence from Britain, Pakistan was partitioned into the separated states of West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Both the states shared the same religion but differences started when West Pakistani elitists denied the representation of East Pakistanis, a majority of the population of Bengalis. This started a conflict.
The conflict started when a Bengali nationalist movement “Awami League” with local support came into existence. This league marked a significant freedom movement for Bengali independence. The league won a majority in Pakistan’s first democratic elections in 1970. Unwilling to transfer the power, Yahya Khan along with West Pakistani elitists suspended parliament. This caused chaos among the Bengalis and resulted in a national strike. This led to a genocide in East Pakistan(now Bangladesh), The massacre killed, raped and brutalized approximately three million – five million casualties in total.
Hideki Tojo:
He was a General and Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army and later became the Prime Minister of Japan (1941-1944). He led Japan’s military expansion, invading China, Southeast Asia and Indochina causing demolition and human suffering. During his regime, he was convicted of secretly experimenting with chemicals and biological warfare agents on civilians and prisoners. He also forced conscription causing civilians to join military services forcefully.
The radical policies caused atrocities and led to the deaths of millions of Asians, named in history as the “Asian Genocide” . Later in his life, The war guilt caused him to take his life which resulted in a failed suicide attempt.
George W Bush:
George Walker Bush served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001-2009. On 11th September 2001, A terrorist attack initiated by Al Qaeda caused destruction killing nearly 3000 Americans. Bush responded with the full force of the military, causing mass destruction “Global War of Terror”. It primarily focused on Afghanistan and Iraq. It resulted in chaos all around the world resulting in an estimated 4.6 million deaths.
This atrocity caused widespread degradation in the atmosphere, economic crisis and medical emergency.
King Leopold II:
Leopold II was the second king of Belgium from 1865-1909. He was also the founder of the Congo Free State, in quest of the establishment he massacred millions of people. His motive was “whatever means necessary” to achieve his goals even if it included massacre of mankind, burning buildings, slavery, torture and barbarism. The violence of King Leopold remains in history as “ Crimes against Humanity” in European Monarch.
In Leopold’s regime, deadly pandemics like famine were widespread killing ten million innocent Congolese.
Hong Xiuquan:
He was a Chinese revolutionary leader responsible for initiating the barbaric Taiping rebellion against the Qing dynasty. The main aspect of the rebellion was Hong Xiuquan’s vision to establish a “Heavenly Kingdom”, which he hallucinated after failing his civil exams. He thought he would make a “Heavenly Kingdom” by overthrowing the Qing dynasty. Taiping rebels committed many massacres like the Nanjing massacre.
It spread extreme violence, destruction and unimaginable human loss.The estimated death toll was around 20-30 million, making it one of the deadliest crimes against humanity.
Adolf Hitler:
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and Dictator of Nazi Germany. His radical ideology was deeply rooted in his blood, he believed Germans were superior to all others.
According to Hitler, Jews were “racially impure” and inferior. They were a threat to German dominance, leading to the persecution and extermination of Jews. He eliminated all the other human races and castes, resulting in a horrible holocaust of millions of people.
In addition to the Holocaust, Hitler’s tyrannies across Europe and Africa resulted in the deaths of millions of people including his military.
Genghis Khan:
Genghis Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire. He united the Mongol tribes to conquer the territories and to create an empire extending across the west. To establish peaceful trade relations, Genghis Khan sent a caravan of Muslim merchants to the Khwarazmian city. But in response, the governor accused the caravan of being spies and arrested them. This caused an outrage, to highlight this issue Khan sent a diplomatic mission to the Khwarazmian. He demanded the governor to be punished and make reparations for the loss of lives and property. The Shah refused and beheaded the chief envoy, sending the head back to Genghis Khan. This insult caused Genghis to invade the Khwarazmian empire in 1219. He obliterated an entire empire likely to be killing 40 million people. An approximate 10% of the world’s population was at that time.
Joseph Stalin:
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Soviet politician and communist revolutionary. He led the Soviet Union from 1924-1953. In his thirst for power, he slaughtered many Russian civilians who got in his way or refused to surrender. He forcefully looted the lands and property of millions of civilians to make the Soviet Union into a state. It was part of his plan to expand his power. Stalin sacrificed and caused chaos in the world to achieve victory over the Nazis, defeating Hitler.
The war casualties in his era were estimated to be 40-60 million, as mentioned in the books.
Mao Zedong:
Chairman Mao was the leader and founder of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. To establish China as an international world power, Mao established policies that caused millions of deaths. “The Great Leap” was the major campaign designed by Mao to transform China into an industrial country. This caused a great famine across China causing the deaths of 45 million in half a decade. Under his barbaric reign and policies, he killed many people that history might not be able to count as it goes above 65 million- 85 million.
Conclusion
We must remember the atrocities led by these leaders. We must learn from these barbaric acts in history. It should invite everyone to learn from their mistakes and never repeat them. Their regimes caused immense suffering and the pain still lingers in the nations that were affected the most.
