10 Real Life Historical Figures With The Highest Kill Counts
8. Pol Pot
Like most members of our list, Pol Pot was a revolutionary who would end up becoming a powerful dictator. Through the use of military force, this son of a farmer found himself controlling all of Cambodia by 1975 and would go on to become the nation's 27th Prime Minister.
He would turn the country into a one-party communist state in which currency was abolished and all citizens were made to wear matching black clothing. However, his strict dress code was far from the worse offense committed during his lifetime.
As part of the new government, Pot emptied Cambodia's cities and shipped their citizens to forced labor camps. Those who made it to said camps were subjected to torture, disease, malnutrition, and even mass executions. The results of the policies, which claimed the lives of roughly 1.7 million people, came to be known as the Cambodian genocide.
In 1981, Pol Pot died of heart failure while under house arrest for allegedly betraying 'the movement.'