[Iron Lady]

(Original post by ClassQuick)
Stalin didnt actually kill more people than Hitler. His actual kill count was below one million. The kill count was highly exaggerated to justify the cold war in the eyes of the people.

Hello Mr. Troll...

[fliegendehollander]

I suppose an alternate way to view this question is who did more good?

Did Hitler's reorganization of the German economy after the failure of the Dawes Plan save Germany from another 50 years of poverty? Did the infrastructure he funded allow Germany's successful rebirth into an industrial superpower after the war? Did Stalin's iron handed rule allow for the development of inner-Russia, tapping the natural resources? Did his consolidation of the Russian state solidify the potentially disastrous power-void left by the Romanovs?

And then there's the more interesting question of who inadvertently did more good for the world.

Did Hitler's aggression show the world the invalidity of appeasement and the subsequent strengthening of the international organizations? Did his manipulation of German minorities cause the world the importance of minority rights? Did his massacre of Jews lead to enough sympathy to facilitate the setting up of the Jewish state? Did Stalin's existence stop the empire-building mindset of capitalist America? Did his help towards China (debatable) allow the establishment of a Chinese state that was not deemed possible for another few decades?

Ah history.

[DebatingGreg]

(Original post by muddywaters51)
Stalin was an athiest and therefore more evil. I hear hitler was religious at some point.

So stalin was more evil

Worst. Argument. Everrrrrrr.

[DebatingGreg]

I'd say Hitler, purely because though Stalin killed more, if Hitler had been given the time to realise his dreams (i.e. not lost WW2), he would've, IMO, killed more than Stalin did. It's debatable, but I'd say he would continue his extermination of Jews, the Russia population, as well as other Slavic people and many others in place of those of Germanic extent.

[fliegendehollander]

Hitler manipulated Christianity for his means. He viewed Christ as a Nordic Aryan and thus the Aryans were practically demi-God. Of course his Bavarian upbringing might have instilled some fear of the God in him. The love for Wagner operas and its ideals however hints towards a more universal deity, rather than any canonic God.

[Profesh]

(Original post by Mr.Zen)
Ok, so its this debate again - who was more evil? Hitler or Stalin? Many people say Stalin was, because he killed more people than Hitler did. However, he did so out of being a complete *******, and generally didn't care about anyone.

However, Hitler wanted to wipe out whole races of people because he thought they were not worthy of life, which, along with his ideologies, make him a far more evil and corrupt human being than Stalin.

While I doubt that either was more potentially deleterious to humanity than any number of people who have thankfully been denied similar outlets for their perverse and irrational hatred (cf. Stormfront), I would suggest that a meaningful comparison between Hitler and Stalin might be adduced by way of analogy with the difference between misanthropy and megalomania, and that although Hitler was perhaps the more nefarious of the two, Stalin's pathological narcissism would likely have motivated him to commit 'evil' under even comparatively mundane circumstances.

[WillowSummers]

(Original post by chinaberry)
There were some pretty ragingly anti-Semitic elements to Stalinism...the only time he let them be was as a propaganda exercise in 1941...look at the Doctor's Plot and everything after the war.

True, but he was Russian, and had a better mustache. Kind of infantile, I know.
I just prefer Stalin.

[gagaslilmonsteruk]

Hitler is winning this poll, because Stalin helped us defeat the Nazis, but take that out of the equation and Stalin was much more evil. Stalin had been going 17 years longer than Hitler. Hitler was 30th January 1933 - 30th April 1945, whereas Stalin was early 1924 until October 1953

[justmyopinions]

(Original post by JimmiesArentRustle)
Stalin invented the concentration camp, which is where Hitler got his inspiration. Countless more millions died under Stalin than Hitler, and Stalin was not only evil to his own people but to all people while Hitler had the german people's interests at heart.
So Stalin earns the distinction of most evil man of the 20th century.

first concentration camps were during the Boar War, in South Africa.

[Mr.Zen]

(Original post by gagaslilmonsteruk)
Hitler is winning this poll, because Stalin helped us defeat the Nazis, but take that out of the equation and Stalin was much more evil. Stalin had been going 17 years younger than Hitler. Hitler was 30th January 1933 - 30th April 1945, whereas Stalin was early 1924 until October 1953

So your view is that the level of immorality and evilness corresponds with how long they were in power and throwing their weight around? Who is more evil in the following?

Someone kills 20 people in a year, using extremely sadistic methods.
Or
Someone goes on a rampage and kills 200 people in a city.

In my opinion, the motive and the system of thinking behind an individual is what determines if they more of an evil person than another.

[chinaberry]

I think the statistics thing was Stalin. Along with the "engineers of the soul" quote.

[M4LLY]

They're both as bad as each other

[gagaslilmonsteruk]

(Original post by Mr.Zen)
So your view is that the level of immorality and evilness corresponds with how long they were in power and throwing their weight around? Who is more evil in the following?

Someone kills 20 people in a year, using extremely sadistic methods.
Or
Someone goes on a rampage and kills 200 people in a city.

In my opinion, the motive and the system of thinking behind an individual is what determines if they more of an evil person than another.

I think you misinterpreted what I meant. What I implied was that although they are both evil, Stalin committed far more atrocities than Hitler, but most people (and wrongly too) regard Stalin as not as evil as Hitler because he helped us win the Second World War against the Nazis.

[Tahooper]

[Tahooper]

(Original post by Dragonfly07)
I think killing people due to discrimination is worse than killing people due to being a simple *******.

The reason for that is because discrimination stems from hate. Killing people out of pure enjoyment shows a lack of empathy which the person had no control over (the lack of empathy isn't due to hate - he'd do this to anyone).

That's why I hate Hitler more. The number of people they each killed is irrelevant.

Yes, because killing one black person because you don't like their skin colour is worse than murdering millions of people with different ethnic backgrounds.

[Profesh]

(Original post by Tahooper)
Yes, because killing one black person because you don't like their skin colour is worse than murdering millions of people with different ethnic backgrounds.

You know, as useful as reductio ad absurdum can be when probing for deficiencies in an argument, it sometimes betrays a fundamental lack of comprehension on the part of the inquisitor.

[Bellissima]

does it really matter? they both did awful awful things... they were both evil in similar yet very different ways... it doesn't really matter whether hitler killed less or stalin killed more... hitler would have had no problem killing the number that stalin did... if he killed that many jews etc. he wouldn't have batted an eyelid...

[Dragonfly07]

(Original post by Tahooper)
Yes, because killing one black person because you don't like their skin colour is worse than murdering millions of people with different ethnic backgrounds.

You obviously didn't understand the point of my post.

[Snagprophet]

(Original post by ClassQuick)
Stalin didnt actually kill more people than Hitler. His actual kill count was below one million. The kill count was highly exaggerated to justify the cold war in the eyes of the people.

Citation needed.

[Tahooper]

(Original post by Dragonfly07)
You obviously didn't understand the point of my post.

Oh believe me, I do. I just don't think a lack of empathy can justify killing millions of people.