Stalin, Hitler, Mao?

Question

I dont know if this question was asked before, but my friend and I today argued who killed the most people, I ended the argument by saying believe in what you believe and I believe in what I believe and he said whatever stupid, dont get mad just because im right, we were arguing about who kiled the most, he said Hitler killed the most, but I said Stalin or Mao did, I know this because my History teacher told me and 2 of my other friends still said hitler killed more, am I right that Stalin killed more people than Hitler, and who do you think killed the most people, can you also give me your resources so I can show it to them, Thanks

Answer 1

Well, my only resource is my brain, but I'm pretty sure Stalin takes the gold medal for murder. I think he wiped out 20 million in his purges. Silver medal goes to Mao, he orchestrated famines that killed millions of people. Hitler was a novice at this sort of thing.

Answer 2

Stalin was responsible for somewhere between 40 and 60 million people being killed. Chairman Mao terminated somewhere in the 20plus million range. Hitler is responsible for about 6 million; mostly jews. The germans are bookkeepers and kept meticulous records so the number is known. In Russia and China records were not kept so the estimates go from low to high; probably the higher figures are more accurate but nobody now living knows.

Answer 3

Problem is that it depends a bit on interpretation. Who are counted as victims. Also, there is quite a bit of variation in quoted numbers as you can also see above in the other replies.

This page has an interesting interpretation of it;
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/tyrants.htm
As you see, all three can be top of the list:
- Mao, if it comes to deaths caused. In Mao's case this includes the people who died of stavation because of his mad politics.
Mao 40M
Hitler 34M
Stalin 20M
- Hitler, if it comes to deliberate killings. This includes war victims. So death caused by him starting the war.
Hitler 34M
Stalin 20M
Mao 10M
- Stalin, if it comes to pure murders.
Stalin 20M
Hitler 15M
Mao 10M

I think that's a pretty good analysis. As he says, there is quite a bit of variance in the numbers quoted as he shows on this page:
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm

So, going with the author's reply I would also say: "that depends on who you consider that person's victims".

In popular quotes the order tends to be following the number of deaths caused. There you find Mao on top.

Edit: Nunya seems to be quoting Rummel in case you are wondering where those numbers come from. That article is quoted quite a bit on the net. Here is one:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/november2005/291105morelethal.htm

As I said, loads of differences in numbers quoted and interpretation.

Meg: nice theory but the bit about Russia is incorrect. The victim were already living in Russia, so it's not that everybody was avoiding Russia. Stalin definitely "took" people as you say Hitler did. It was not just famine. Check these article for more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#Purges_and_deportations

Answer 4

I would have to say stalin or Mao as well. Even if all of the deaths that were the result of Stalin and Mao's ideologies after their deaths were counted, the numbers would be WELL into the milliuons. Hitler's plan to exterminate the Jews ended at his death at approximately six million. i miust agree, Stalin and Mao have Hitler beat handily!

Answer 5

Adolf Hitler: Kill tally: Directly responsible for the deaths of over 46 million Europeans as a result of the Second World War.

Stalin: Kill tally: Approximately 20 million, including up to 14.5 million needlessly starved to death. At least one million executed for political "offences". At least 9.5 million more deported, exiled or imprisoned in work camps, with many of the estimated five million sent to the 'Gulag Archipelago' never returning alive. Other estimates place the number of deported at 28 million, including 18 million sent to the 'Gulag'.

Mao: Kill tally: 14 to 20 million deaths from starvation during the 'Great Leap Forward'. Tens of thousands killed and millions of lives ruined during the 'Cultural Revolution'.

Answer 6

well....
Stalin starved his own country Russia (back then it was the U.S.S.R.) and Russia is huge
but then Hitler had plenty of concentration camps set up through out Poland and countries near by.

i'd go with Hitler.
if his concentration camp people population ran low he'd just get more people (not just Jews and Polaks (Poles))
and everyone who knew about Stalin and what he's doing to his people wouldn't go to Russia.
people avoided Stalin = less deaths
Hitler took people = more deaths

atleast that's what i think :)

Answer 7

mao- 77 million
stalin- 61,911,000
hitler- 20,946,000