How did the cold war end?

The fall of the Berlin Wall. The shredding of the Iron Curtain. The end of the Cold War. When Mikhail Gorbachev assumed the reins of power in the Soviet Union in 1985, no one predicted the revolution he would bring. A dedicated reformer, Gorbachev introduced the policies of glasnost and perestroika to the USSR. read more

The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its satellite states) and powers in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others). read more

The End of the Cold War This map charts the change from the single communist nation of the USSR into the confederation of smaller independent nations once dominated by Russia. The fall of the Berlin Wall. read more

The Cold War ended when Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union. After taking control of the country in 1985, he set about reforming governmental policies. The dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is often viewed as the symbolic end of the Cold War. read more