Correct Answer:
D. 1991
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was a vast socialist state that spanned much of Eurasia, existing from 1922 until its eventual collapse, which profoundly reshaped global geopolitics.
- Correct Option (D) 1991: The USSR officially ceased to exist on December 26, 1991. This dissolution was formalized by the Alma-Ata Protocol, signed by 11 of the Soviet republics, which established the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The preceding resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev as President on December 25, 1991, effectively marked the end of the Soviet era and the conclusion of the Cold War.
- Distractors:
- (A) 1988, (B) 1989, and (C) 1990 were periods of significant internal reforms and growing instability within the Soviet Union, but the state itself remained intact until 1991.