Who was the deadliest foreign leader in history?
When the question of the world's deadliest leader comes into play, everyone instinctively jumps to a conclusion. Some popular guesses are Saddam Hussain, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Adolf Hitler, Fidel Castro, etc. Many rulers committed massive atrocities against their people and others but let's discuss the biggest offenders: The Big 4. For our purposes, the deadliest ruler of the 4 will be the one that caused the most deaths during their time in power. Hitler may seem like the obvious winner due to the holocaust and other dictatorial abuses of power. Firstly, 6 million died in the holocaust and another 5 million POWs, homosexuals, etc., were killed under Hitler's reign. Some may say the casualties of WWII are also on his shoulders but that is up to interpretation. So to compromise, Hitler's count will include the fallen British, French, and Russian soldiers of WWII, increasing the total to roughly 23 million. Now regarding Stalin, most of his casualties are attributed to his policies. He ordered 1 million of his citizens to be executed, is blamed for the 4 million deaths in the Ukrainian famine, and resulted in the deaths of millions for various other reasons. His total death count is unknown, but the estimated number is 24 million. Another contender that may surprise some is Ghengis Khan. His Mongolian forces led to the death of tens of millions of Chinese inhabitants. Due to the fact that he lived so long ago, his murderous feats are more disturbing than the others but also harder to accurately calculate. It is not definite but it is estimated that he killed 11% of the world's total population during his time, which is roughly 40 million people. Now the final member of the big 4 and the deadliest leader of all time is Mao Zedong. Similar to Stalin’s situation, the deaths of Mao’s people are largely due to various policies that harmed China. He worked many to death in labor camps, executed numerous civilians, and relocated countless people. However, the true culprit for Mao’s fatalities is famine. During Mao’s reign, as many as 45 million died in famines over many years. This brings Mao’s count all the way up to roughly 70-80 million, the highest of any dictator. Sources: https://allthatsinteresting.com/who-killed-the-most-people-in-history https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-worldwide-deaths-world-war https://www.chinafile.com/library/nyrb-china-archive/who-killed-more-hitler-stalin-or-mao
