His underlying reason was that it would scare people into believing he was telling the truth. He also pulled a Stalin, and had large-scale purges. Like most crazies he blamed somebody else, in this case the USA, and said they had spread disease throughout its population. For various reasons the people never seemed to love the man, and so his hold on power was tenuous at best. He fought for a command economy that allowed the government to make all decisions for the country. as a scapegoat and forced the country to believe in his delusion or else.īefore our very own Kim Jong-Il was his murderous father Kim Il Sung who led North Korea in a terrible direction. Mengitsu is even known to have garroted people to death.īreakdown: Unpopular among his people Kim used the U.S. The campaign has been described as one of the worst mass murders ever in Africa. The tax was aptly named “the wasted bullet”! Are you serious Mengitsu? However there was an even more gruesome fate of being left on the street where wild hyenas would fight over the dead. As if killing innocents wasn’t enough they would then charge the family a tax to return the dead body to them. Much of the murdering can be attributed to the friendly neighborhood watch there known as “Kebeles”. Thousands were killed and found dead on the streets in the years that followed. It was an auspicious beginning to say the least. In his introductory speech Mengitsu yelled, “Death to counterrevolutionaries! Death to the EPRP!” Then he took three bottles filled with blood and threw them to the ground. His biggest claim to fame is the Ethiopian Red Terror which was a campaign of repression led by the Derg (communist militia in Ethiopia). The way he got into power was by smothering the previous president Haile Selassie although he has denied those rumors. Mengistu Haile Mariam is (as in still alive) a politician who presided over Ethiopia from 1974 to 1991. Mengistu Haile Mariam (400,000 – 1.5 million deaths)īreakdown: As president of Ethiopia and colonel of “the Derg” (communist militia) Mengitsu systematically killed those against him in the “Red Terror” campaign. This began a war that caused the deaths of 100,000 soldiers, and much worse, a blockade on the region which starved 1 million civilians.ĩ. Well Ojukwu being no slouch declared secession from the rest of Nigeria and became the “Republic of Biafra”. Yakubu started to put pressure on the region, and tested how much sway he had in the area versus Ojukwu. A dummy agreement was signed between them called the “Aburi Accord”, but it meant nothing to either leader. It had been found in the Niger delta where tensions were already high between the Eastern region (led by Ojukwu) and the rest of the country (governed by Yakubu). It starts as many sad stories do with precious beautiful oil. Sit back, but don’t relax.īreakdown: 1 million civilians on the wrong side of a blockade caused by a war of secession in Nigeria and 100,000 soldiers who died in that war. So, a quick toast between you and I to a more peaceable future where less of what follows below is allowed to happen. It makes me think about how much more cognizant we’ve become in this last century to these events.

Where to begin? Maybe an icebreaker for you next dinner party? Did you know the word “genocide” was coined in 1943 to describe when the Armenians were slaughtered haphazardly by Turkish leader Ismail Enver? Until then there was no specific word for it in our language.

Ten of our political leaders in the last 130 years have been the architects of the most horrific genocides, systematic murders, blockades, brutal wars, and policy reforms history has ever recorded.

Some people make horrible decisions, others are just bad presidents, a few are bloodthirsty, many are extremists, a couple are warmongers, and all of these guys are a mix. The updated version of this post can be found here.

Worst rulers in history