3. King Leopold II
When Africa was being brutally colonized by Europeans, King Leopold II of Belgium introduced a horrifying forced labor system that led to the death of 10 million Africans in the Congo Free State. Read that number again. Ten million. Leopold promised philanthropy, but delivered famine, disease, rape, mutilation, and amputation. Profits from rubber, ivory, and precious minerals poured back into Belgium, while brutal exploitation and atrocities continued until independence in 1960.
Belgian Butcher
Statues glorifying this horrifying endeavor have been attacked and defaced by modern-day Belgians facing their colonial history, although the Belgian royal family still seems rather attached to their monster. Depending on which side you choose in this debate, he was known as either the “Builder King” or the “Butcher of the Congo.”
4. Ivan The Terrible
If your nickname is “Ivan the Terrible,” I think we have a fair idea of what kind of ruler you are. This young tyrant became Ivan IV, ruler of Russia, at just eight years old, and his unchecked power brought Russia to the brink of ruin.
Brash and impulsive, he waged war against Sweden, Lithuania, and Poland. He killed his own people, too—Ivan massacred thousands of innocent people in Novgorod, Russia’s second city. Residents were burned, starved, or tied together and drowned in icy rivers. Known for extreme cruelty, Ivan made his cousin Vladimir drink poison and watched him die, and killed his own son in a fit of rage.