Zhang Xianzhong, undoubtedly. He had the mindset of a serial killer while being dictator.
Very few people become absolute rulers of a country by being stupid, and what the OP suggests (the action, not the OP) is monumentally stupid. Most dictators are in fact very smart and quite politically savvy. Ultimatly their rule depends on the populace tolerating them enough to not want to overthrow them. Killing absolutely everybody or trying to is a good way to ensure that they do. Also bombing villages and strafing protestors tends to make you look bad even amongst your own supporters.
Much better to let people live and carry out actions under some sort of official cover. So Saddams gassing of his own people that the Americans love to recall, was not motivated (totally) by spite, but at least due to the fact that many locals were actively supporting the Iranians during a war. in the exact same Way many opponents of a regime commit enough acts to get them legitimately slammed under applicable laws.
Every dictator is a very special snowflake, and none are alike. There are at least two factors, um… dictating the level of brutality – personal inclination and perceived “need” of it for survival purposes.
Stalin and Hitler seemed to really wallow in brutality, and would be brutal in any circumstances. But look at a guy like Assad in Syria today. Is he actually more brutal now than he was two years ago? His forces are certainly acting more brutally in the face on civil unrest, though as I understand it the Syrian government was never a model of sweetness and light in the best of times. Maybe Assad even feels bad about the “necessity” of being more brutal, or maybe he’s taking some perverse joy because he now has an excuse to act out and indulge his darker impulses.
So I would ask the OP for a clearer defintion of what you understand as brutality. Many (maybe most) dictators don’t get their own hands dirty, and they don’t even see the brutality inflicted on the populace. They issue instructions to “maintain order”, and sometimes they will later blame “overzelous” minions for excesses. Are they brutal too? How does their brutality compare to some other dictators who want to watch it happen, or even participate in it?
I think that it would be more accurate to say that dictators don’t usually think that there’s such a thing as good guys - they think everyone’s just like them, only less good at it.
Does “more” brutal mean a larger volume of brutal behavior, or or brutality of a more serious nature? It’s a quantity versus quality question.
I’d never heard of him, but he’s certainly contender judging by his wikipedia page..
As for the ‘quantity versus quality’ question that’s certainly a matter of opinion. None of the ancient contenders can come anywhere near the moderns in sheer number terms, but certainly match them (and may even exceed) them in qualtitative nastiness.
OP, I urge you to get a hold of the video game Tropico. Have your dictator avatar be as brutal as possible, and see how your banana republic fares under that sort of yoke. See how long you stay in power, too.
Yes, this reminds me of the military strategy of the “golden bridge.”
Sun Tzu said ‘Build your enemies a golden bridge’. If the other side feels cornered, they will fight hard. If, however, there is an easy way out, then they are more likely to take that than fight.
But the heart of a poet!
Zhang Xianzhong killed basically everybody in Sichuan, but he left behind a stele with an awesome poem on it. According to Wikipedia, it goes something like-a this:
天生萬物以養人
人無一善以報天
殺殺殺殺殺殺殺
Heaven brings forth innumerable things to help man.
Man has nothing with which to recompense Heaven.
Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.