JOSEPH STALIN: TYRANT OF STEEL Iosef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (a.k.a. Joseph Stalin), was the undisputed leader of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953. Although Stalin’s reign in power did not begin immediately his contribution to government began in 1912, and from then on he slowly rose to the high chain of command. Stalin’s long and troublesome road to absolute power had many steps that marked important events in the Soviet Union’s condition but they did not always improve the life of his people. Stalin’s first position in government began in 1898 when he joined a secret Marxist revolutionary group and became involved in many demonstrati