Sara,

Peter the Great's mother was ruthless in her pursuit of power. Because of her maneuvering, thousands of Russians died.

As for the Tsarinas, every time the Russian crown tranferred up until the latter part of the 19th century there was incredible bloodshed and maneuvering. The succession was laid out on paper, but there was always a fight for the crown.

Boudica was a warrior who took power and launched a revolution against the romans.

Queen Victoria was every bit as ruthless as her male (and female) contemporaries. For 75 years the sun never set on the British Empire, regardless of the body count (which was never kept)

Queen Elizabeth guarded her power ruthlessly as well, directing the execution of those who disagreed with her rule.

Isabella directed the conquest of the New World while in power in Spain.

Joan of Arc makes a nice story, but while she was leading the French army she gave no quarter.

The only difference between modern rulers and rulers from earlier times is the fact that weapons have gotten more efficient. If Sophia (Peter's regent) had had modern weapons in her arsenal the body count would have been just as high as Herr schickelgruber's.

(BTW, I just threw in Janet Reno as a tweek, I knew it would get a rise out of you)