can you create a table of estimated deaths by murder,
execution starvation by Mao Stalin and Lenin
or anyone else in history you think comparable?
ChatGPT said:
[This table summarizes] estimated deaths caused by policies, purges, famines, executions, and mass violence under leaders like Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, and others historically known for state-induced mass deaths. These figures are estimates and often debated by historians. I’ll also include a few other comparable historical figures for context.
⚠️ Important Notes:
- Estimates vary widely depending on sources and methodologies.
- Deaths include murders, executions, famine (when induced or exacerbated by policy), gulag/labor camp deaths, and in some cases ethnic cleansing or genocide.
- These are not battlefield deaths in war, but rather civilian or political deaths caused by internal policies.
📊 Table: Estimated Deaths by Authoritarian Regimes (20th Century)
|
Leader / Regime |
Country / Period |
Estimated Deaths |
Causes |
Notes |
|
Mao Zedong |
China (1949–1976) |
45–70 million |
Great Leap Forward famine, Cultural Revolution, purges |
Largest death toll primarily from famine (policy-induced) |
|
Joseph Stalin |
USSR (1924–1953) |
15–20 million |
Purges, Gulag labor camps, forced collectivization famines (e.g., Holodomor) |
Includes mass deportations and executions |
|
Adolf Hitler |
Nazi Germany (1933–1945) |
17–25 million |
Holocaust (6M Jews), WWII civilian casualties, ethnic cleansing |
Includes genocide and war crimes |
|
Vladimir Lenin |
USSR (1917–1924) |
3–5 million |
Red Terror, Civil War, early Gulag, famine |
Shorter period, but laid foundations for Stalinist terror |
|
Pol Pot |
Cambodia (1975–1979) |
1.5–2 million |
Execution, forced labor, famine |
Up to 25% of population died |
|
Kim Il-sung |
North Korea (1948–1994) |
1–3 million |
Famine, purges, gulags |
Continued under his successors |
|
Mengistu Haile Mariam |
Ethiopia (1977–1991) |
500,000–2 million |
Red Terror, famine (exacerbated by policy) |
Marxist military junta (Derg) |
|
Hideki Tojo |
Japan (WWII era) |
3–5 million |
Massacres (e.g., Nanking), civilian deaths in Asia |
Imperial Japan’s military leader during invasions |
|
Leopold II of Belgium |
Congo Free State (1885–1908) |
8–10 million |
Forced labor, violence, starvation |
Colonial-era atrocities in the Congo |
|
Yakubu Gowon & others |
Nigeria (1967–1970) |
1–2 million |
Biafra famine (civil war blockade), massacres |
Humanitarian crisis more than direct execution |
📌 Summary:
- Mao Zedong tops the list primarily due to policy-induced famine.
- Stalin caused millions of deaths via purges, gulags, and famines.
- Hitler combined industrialized genocide (Holocaust) with aggressive war and occupation.
- Other leaders (Pol Pot, Kim Il-sung, etc.) inflicted large-scale suffering, often on their own populations.