Which event is regarded as the initial point of the Cold War?

The Berlin Blockade is widely regarded as a critical early event in the Cold War. This event occurred in 1948-1949 when the Soviet Union blocked all ground routes into West Berlin in an effort to consolidate its control over the city and push the Western Allies out. The response from the United States and its allies was the Berlin Airlift, where they supplied West Berlin through air routes, effectively countering the blockade. This episode highlighted the deepening schism between the Soviet Union and the Western powers, particularly the United States, and marked a significant escalation in tensions that characterized the Cold War.

In contrast, the Cuban Missile Crisis was an intensification of Cold War tensions that occurred later in 1962, representing a peak rather than the beginning. The dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945 was a pivotal moment in World War II that contributed to the onset of the Cold War but did not signify its start as it was primarily aimed at Japan. The signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 dealt with the aftermath of World War I and had no direct bearing on the Cold War, making it unrelated to the context of post-World War II geopolitical dynamics that defined Cold War beginnings. The Berlin Blockade effectively symbolizes the official division