What event marked the end of the Cold War?

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 is widely recognized as the event that marked the end of the Cold War. This significant geopolitical change represented the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of Soviet power, leading to a shift in international relations. The Soviet Union had been the primary antagonist of the United States and its allies throughout the Cold War, which spanned several decades following World War II. As the Soviet Union dissolved, it resulted in the emergence of independent nations and the end of the longstanding ideological conflict between capitalism and communism.

While the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was a crucial moment that symbolized the waning influence of communist regimes in East Germany and Eastern Europe, it was the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union that formally concluded the Cold War era. The signing of the Treaty of Versailles occurred much earlier and dealt with the aftermath of World War I, while the launch of Sputnik was a significant event in the space race but did not mark the end of the Cold War.