Carl Jung would absolutely love the collective consciousness of our little corner of the universe. Where else would a simple and direct query as originally posted by Diesel (with appropriate disclaimers) lead to the brilliant debate reflected in the postings by Larry, GeorgeH, and Jack. I would only add (to Jack's post) that Pope Innocent III also qualifies as a "Hitler" if you were a Cathar caught up in the Albigensian Crusade when christians started killing christians in the name of christ. Innocent III went on to receive the Crown of England and the keys to the treasury from King John as part of their "deal" to excommunicate all those nasty barrons trying to secure their rights against the crown.

While Cromwell is indeed the most reviled figure in Britain's oppression of Ireland, genocidal policies actually started as early as 1521 when Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, serving in the place of Kildare, told Cardinal Wolsey that Ireland "will never be brought to due obeisance, but only with compulsion and conquest." Asked to explain further, he made clear that he meant genocide- nothing less than the total extermination of the Irish race and their replacement by English settlers. Of course, this was before Henry VIII's split with Rome, so Henry told his ministers to "proceed politically, patiently and secretly" (Landon, 1981; "Erin & Britannia; Historical background to a Modern Tragedy. ISBN 0-88229-766x). Thus began the plantation system which went on to wreak untold havoc on Ireland, in America, and virtually any other place on the globe where the Empire extended its rapacious grab.

There is a sort ob balance, thought, at least as to Cromwell. He died a rather nasty death of a malarial "tertian ague" on sept 3, 1658. Upon restoration of the monarchy two years later, vengeful royalists dug up his well preserved body (a side effect of the arsenic used then to treat malaria) and hung him from Tyburn Tree, then decapitated him and spiked his head on the roof of Westminster Hall, where it stayed for 25 years, until it was blown down and landed at the feet of a sentry who, no doubt sensing a "windfall" (sorry, I just couldn't resist), took it home. A century later, an actor by the name of Josiah Wilkenson bought the head from a museum near Clare market for #230, and gained a measure of notoriety by taking it to parties. (the first "talking head"?) Wilkenson's grandson ultimately gave the head to Cromwell's alma mater, Sidney Sussex in Cambridge, where it was reportedly authenticated and rerburied on the grounds. (Wilkins, 1996; "Death: A History of Man's Obsessions and Fears", Barnes & Nobel Books)