What event is generally considered the end of the Cold War?

The collapse of the Soviet Union is regarded as the event that effectively marked the end of the Cold War. This dissolution occurred in December 1991 and is significant because it represented the failure of the Soviet system and the ideological competition between the capitalist West and the communist East. The Soviet Union’s collapse led to the emergence of independent republics from its former territories, signaling a dramatic shift in geopolitical structures.

While the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is a crucial moment that symbolized the crumbling of communist control in Eastern Europe and the increasing momentum toward reunification of Germany, it was the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union that ultimately dismantled the overarching Cold War framework. The invasion of Iraq and the establishment of NATO, while important events in their own contexts, do not directly relate to the end of the Cold War era. The Moscow’s inability to maintain control over its sphere of influence, coupled with internal economic and political crises, led directly to this significant geopolitical shift, solidifying the collapse of the Soviet Union as the definitive end of the Cold War.