In what year did the Soviet Union officially dissolve, marking the end of the Cold War?

In what year did the Soviet Union officially dissolve, marking the end of the Cold War?

• A. 1989
• B. 1990
• C. 1992
• D. 1991

Answer: (D)

This question tests understanding of when the Soviet Union actually ceased to exist as a state, which marks the formal end of the Cold War. The official dissolution occurred in December 1991. After the Belavezha Accords in early December 1991 declared that the Soviet Union would dissolve and that a new union would form as the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Soviet government moved to wind things down. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991, and the Supreme Soviet formally dissolved the USSR on December 26, 1991, ending its existence as a state. That legal end is why the correct year is 1991. By contrast, 1989 is linked to the fall of the Berlin Wall and symbolic thaw in East-West tensions, not the USSR’s dissolution. 1990 saw continued reforms and declarations of independence by republics but the USSR still existed. 1992 comes after the dissolution, so it doesn’t fit the event in question.

This question tests understanding of when the Soviet Union actually ceased to exist as a state, which marks the formal end of the Cold War. The official dissolution occurred in December 1991. After the Belavezha Accords in early December 1991 declared that the Soviet Union would dissolve and that a new union would form as the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Soviet government moved to wind things down. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991, and the Supreme Soviet formally dissolved the USSR on December 26, 1991, ending its existence as a state. That legal end is why the correct year is 1991.

By contrast, 1989 is linked to the fall of the Berlin Wall and symbolic thaw in East-West tensions, not the USSR’s dissolution. 1990 saw continued reforms and declarations of independence by republics but the USSR still existed. 1992 comes after the dissolution, so it doesn’t fit the event in question.