Top 10 List | Top Ten Lists

While some of these dictators got what they wanted by literally torturing the masses, others were dignified and tolerant of the different cultures and religions.

1. Porfirio Diaz

Porfirio Diaz’s presidency went on for about 20 years and he single-handedly managed to annihilate the Mexican economy. He headed the Government in the country and gained complete control over the authorities. The Mexican revolution was kick-started when this dictator was re-elected for a second term.

2. Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro was Cuba’s prime minister in 1959 and became the president soon after. He was successful in what he did and was not as ruthless as the rest mentioned in this list. His record is quite clean and he was a good leader.

3. Chairman Mao

Mao Tse-tung headed the People’s Republic of China for a long time till his reigned ended in 1976. His philosophy was created keeping the elements of both Marxism and communism in mind. He believed that the peasants should be liberated and he spread his ideas through the country with the help of well-designed campaigns. He managed to gain control over all of China except Taiwan. However, Mao was quite ruthless when it came to dealing with the enemy.

4. Idi Amin

This Ugandan dictator controlled this small nation and was the self-proclaimed president of the nation. He replaced certain laws with military law and ran the country on martial law practices. Thousands were murdered during his regime and dozens of villages were wiped out quite frequently. Amin had some unique quirks and a short fuse.

5. Vladmir Lennin

Lenin started off as a lawyer and later started publishing pieces laced with Socialist literature. He was against the World War and did not like the fact that the working class had no choice but to fight. Elements of Marxism and communism can be seen in his policies and his body is at display at a certain mausoleum.

We can come up with a long list while formulating our collection of the most evil men in human history. Be that as it may, we can easily come up with a few men who stand out from the rest of this most hated league of men who had done great harm and committed the most atrocious acts against mankind. Here is our list of top 10 most wicked men.

1. Joseph Stalin

It was during the tenure of Joseph Stalin as the supreme leader of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party when Ukraine suffered the worst famine ever recorded. It was even considered by many as an act of genocide committed by the government of Stalin against the Ukrainians. During the reign of terror of Stalin an estimated 10 million to 60 million were reported to have been murdered.

2. Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler is perhaps the most hated man in all of our history. His political strategy of racial subjugation and territorial conquest plunged mankind to World War II which led to the deaths of millions of innocent people. This included the methodical genocide of some 6 million Jews during the dark ages of the Holocaust.

3. Ivan The Terrible

Ivan IV, who is more popularly known as Ivan the Terrible, was the first supreme ruler of Russia to have used the title of Tsar. In order to subjugate and sow fear in the hearts of his people, he would line up 500 to 1000 men daily. These innocent men were tortured and put to death while he and his son are watching.

4. Vlad Tepes

He is known as Vlad the Impaler. He is remembered for his extreme cruelty during his reign and was in fact the inspiration of Bram Stoker in his popular novel, Dracula. He has employed various types of torture which are strong testaments to the sufferings that his constituents went through while he was in power.

5. Pol Pot

Pol Pot was the evil leader of the Khmer Rouge and Cambodian prime minister for the period 1976-1979. The Khmer Rouge, with Pol Pot at the helm, has implemented an extreme method of agrarian communism that resulted to the death of over 2 million Cambodians.

Let us have a look at the top 10 dictators who still maintain autocratic rule and power dominated by abuse and terror.

1. Omar al-Bashir, Sudan

Is in power since 1989 – His monumental abuses has led to mankind’s worst humanitarian catastrophe. Omar al-Bashir has launched colossal ethnic and religious cleansing that has uprooted over 2 million civilians and led to the death of more than 70,000.

2. Bashir al-Assad, Syria

This was a leader who never expected to be a head of state. He was the second oldest son of President Hafez al-Assad. It was only when his older brother and the heir to the head of state was killed in car crash that Assad was considered for the position. Since gaining power in 2000, Assad has lead a repressive regime which disregards human rights and economic lapses. Unopposed in 2 elections, he has resorted to force to squash opposition.

3. Than Shwe, Burma

Is in power since 1992 – For his dogged resistance to international pressure and continued detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, Than Shwe remains one of top pariah in the international community. The documented abuses of the military government included murder, rape and torture.

4. Hu Jintao, China

Is in power since 2002 – Amidst the economic liberalization and progress of the nation, the government of Hu Jintao remains as one of the most repressive. Thousands of Chinese still remain in labor camps serving sentences for a variety of political offenses.

5. Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia

Is in power since 1995 – Facing international pressure, Crown Prince Abdullah has relented and announced the holding of the first elections in Saudi Arabia after 40 years. Saudi Arabia, under the leader of the Crown Prince, enforces the extreme form of Islam known as Wahhabism.