At present, Democracy is being practiced in many countries around the world. The people get to choose who is to lead the government and who their representatives in parliament will be. But that has not always been the case in the past where subjects were subjected to dictatorial rule. Some nations are still under dictators at present and they suffer under these tyrants. Dictatorship can be defined as a form of governance whereby a country or a state is ruled by one person or a small group of people who exercise absolute power over their subjects. In this article we will examine the Top 10 Meanest Dictators to ever live. Let’s begin the countdown.
Top 10 Meanest Dictators of our Time:
10. Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe)
Mugabe is the current President of Zimbabwe and he has been in power since 1987. This 92 year old tyrant was a freedom fighter and a darling of the people before he rose to power. His efforts to fight the colonialists won him favor among fellow Zimbabweans and he was elected president as soon as the war was over. He then went about to set Zimbabwe as a one party state. Anyone who opposed his leadership was eliminated through assassination or intimidation. Fearing that whites might oppose his rule, he went about chasing all the whites in the fertile highlands and took all that land for himself.
He also set up laws that barred foreigners from owning more than 50% stake in any company in Zimbabwe. This stupid measures negatively affected the economy of Zimbabwe and the citizens dully suffered. It is for these reasons that Robert Mugabe totally deserves a place in the Top 10 Meanest Dictators of our time.
9. Fidel Castro (Cuba)
Fidel Castro is the former Head of State of Cuba who served as president from 1976 up to 2008 when he handed the reins of power to his brother Raul Castro. He treated Cuba like his personal farm yard by assigning himself all the constitutional powers of governance. By denying the Cubans the right to elect the leaders of their choice, Fidel Castro makes it into the list of the Top 10 Meanest Dictators of our time. His administration was responsible for countless cases of human rights violation and the mass exodus of over one million Cubans during the Cuban Exile. His stance on communism impoverished Cuba and that was the major reason behind the Mass Exodus.
8. Joseph Stalin (USSR)
Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from mid 1920s up to the time of his death in 1952. Under his rule, Socialism was practiced in USSR and those who opposed this type of governance were often imprisoned, exiled or killed often without due process. During the Second World War he entered into a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany but Hitler’s forces did not adhere to this pact and went ahead and attacked The USSR. This caused the death of over one million Russians and displacement of many more. In entering into a pact with Hitler he sacrificed the well-being and lives of Russians. This earns him a spot in the Top 10 Meanest Dictators of our time.
7. Idi Amin Dada (Uganda)
Amin ruled Uganda for 8 years from 1971 to 1979. His rule was characterized by massive human rights violations, political assassinations and extrajudicial killings. Anyone who dared oppose his rule was executed mostly without due process. He was so greedy that he would even take the wives of other people and make them his own. Not only was he evil and malicious but he was also a cannibal. He would cut pieces of flesh from those he has killed and eat then raw.
6. Benito Mussolini (Italy)
Mussolini was the ruler of Italy during the Second World War. He was an extreme socialist and exhibited totalitarian rule on Italians by making Italy a one party state. He ruled Italy with an iron fist but sadly enough the Italians still followed him. Mussolini collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II and he was eventually killed in 1945.
5. Bashar Al Assad (Syria)
Bashar al-Assad is the incumbent President of Syria despite calls both locally and abroad for him to step down. By holding onto power he is responsible for the civil crisis currently experienced in Syria. His regime is ruthless and merciless in its efforts to hold onto power. They have even resorted to killing children as young as 2 years old so as to scare anyone who opposes his government. For all these atrocities is therefore one of the Meanest Dictators of our time.
4. Saddam Hussein (Iraq)
Hussein was so cruel that he was the first ruler to use Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) on his own citizens in the Kurdish region. He entered Iraq into 3 wars that resulted in massive causalities. Extra judicial killings were common under his regime and the citizen feared for the worse during these tough times.
3. Muammar Gaddafi (Libya)
He ruled Libya for over 42 years until his death in 2011. During this time he used Libya’s oil wealth to enrich himself and his close family. He ruled high-handedly such very few dared oppose his rule. Peaceful protesters were often killed by his military officials. This continued until 2011 when the Arabian Revolution was in full swing. This motivated the Libyans to take to the street in armed protest until they were able to kill one of the meanest dictators of our time.
2. Kim Jong-II (North Korea)
Kim Jong-II was a modern day dictator. He arrested anyone who opposed his workers party. He would lock them in labor camps where he would overwork them and starve them to death. In addition he demanded total loyalty from his citizens and even demand that they refer to him as the Supreme Leader of North Korea. Those who failed to do so were executed or thrown into the labor camps. He was so obsessed with military warfare that he would commit all government finances into the military. This paralyzed other departments such as healthcare and it was the citizens who suffered the most.
1. Adolf Hitler (Germany)
Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany. He was personally responsible for the execution of over a million innocent people mostly the Jews. He hated the Jews so much that figured that the only way to stop this hatred was to kill all the Jews. Also, he initiated World War II when he invaded Poland in 1939. His actions and ruthless nature therefore make the meanest dictator of our time.