The historical event most associated with the beginnings of the Cold War is the end of World War II in 1945. Following the war, geopolitical tensions escalated between the United States and the Soviet Union, as both nations emerged as global superpowers with conflicting ideologies: capitalism versus communism. The division of Europe, particularly the Iron Curtain and the formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, solidified these tensions. Events like the Berlin Blockade in 1948 and the Korean War in the early 1950s further exemplified the ideological struggle and military standoff that characterized the Cold War era, which lasted for several decades.