At least in terms of the 20th century, I can't come up with two atheists who changed the world more than Stalin and Mao, who radically transformed the world's two largest countries. Hundreds of millions of people were directly affected.
The degree to which their atheism informed their work is less clear. Both regimes were explicitly atheist, but it wouldn't be accurate to say that was the primary motivator for all their actions.
Perhaps we could say that they were totally liberated from the constraints of Christian morality, and this allowed them to take decisive action to move their respective countries in to the modern era in a rapid manner.
The degree to which their atheism informed their work is less clear. Both regimes were explicitly atheist, but it wouldn't be accurate to say that was the primary motivator for all their actions.
Perhaps we could say that they were totally liberated from the constraints of Christian morality, and this allowed them to take decisive action to move their respective countries in to the modern era in a rapid manner.
