Mao Tse Tung

Stalin is responsible for the death of 17 million Russians.

Hitler is responsible for the death of 12 million people in both concentration camps and civilians.

Alternate opinion:

Hitler: Al least 15 million Russian civilians die during Hitler's invasion in USSR. Lots of people in other countries too.

Stalin: about 300000 (rounded up) dead during party purges, about 200000 captured Nazi soldiers (died 1945-53).

Mao Zedong is a much-mythologised historical figure with a controversial and highly contentious legacy. While it is certainly true that many people were put to death or died through other government actions during his reign, it is not possible to know exactly how many and historians will debate how much responsibility for said deaths can be attributed to Mao himself.

It is generally agreed that around 3.5 million Chinese were killed during the Chinese Civil War and the Sino-Japanese war (which overlapped each other). To what degree Mao was responsible for these deaths is entirely dependant on one's interpretation of the historical circumstances surrounding these conflicts.

Mao was also responsible for a number of political policies generally seen as disastrous. These include the three-anti/five-anti campaigns, the anti-rightist movement and the struggle sessions. The political persecution that resulted from these policies cause many deaths. Among them were direct executions, mass-suicides caused by persecution, and labour camps that killed many through over-work and poor conditions. Most would agree that Mao is largely responsible for the policies that caused these deaths, which are estimated to total between 30 and 40 million people. Certainly Mao was aware of the killing, and took no shame in his ordering of political executions, being quoted as saying "We must probably execute 10,000 to several tens of thousands of embezzlers nationwide before we can solve the problem."

Mao was also responsible for enacting a number of socio-economic policies that had grave humanitarian consequences. These include the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward. These lead to the abandoning of agricultural activities in favour of producing huge volumes of iron and steel. As a result of this, and also due to the mis-reporting of agricultural production figures by district managers who feared persecution, a massive short-fall in basic food production occurred. This triggered the Great Chinese Famine, in which anywhere from 27 million to 38 million people starved to death. It was not Mao's intention to cause such starvation, but he could be considered culpable to some degree for these deaths due to his terrible economic planning and ignorance of the plight of Chinese peasants.

So, it is entirely possible that 78 million people were killed under Mao's leadership, although the exact figure will never be known. Exactly how many of these deaths can be attributed to Mao and his policies is a matter of historical debate.

Serve for the people!

The atom bomb is a paper tiger.

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

Women hold up half the sky.

Revolution is not having dinner with guests.

Enemy won't disappear by themselves.

We should support all that enemy are against and should be against all that enemy supports.

Without people's army, there will be nothing left for people.

The political party commands the guns, not guns commanding party.

People are the real heroes!

Dying for people's interests is heavier than Mt Tai (the great mountain in China).

No investigation, no conclusion.

Never forget class struggle.

In Henry Kissingers book, "on china" page 307, Kissingers recounts one of his last conversations with Mao which is very revealing about the Chairmans view of himself and his reference to god,

Mao - ....."and when i go to heaven to see God, i'll tell him its better to have Taiwan under the care of the United States now."

Kissinger - " He will be very astonished to hear that from the Chairman"

Mao - "No, because god blesses you, not us. God does not like us (waves his hands) because i am a militant warlord, also a communist. Thats why he doesnt like me. (pointing to the three americans) He likes you and you and you."

This conversation is interesting not only because Mao makes reference to heaven and god but also because he refers to himself as a militant warlord, rather than a revolutionary. Whether this means Mao had a personal belief in god, or whether the god reference was used to convey a message to the christian Americans regarding Mao's position on Taiwan, i think, is open to interpretation and further investigation.