Title: Mikhail Gorbachev | Biography, Facts, Cold War, & Significance | Britannica
Headings: Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
president of Soviet Union
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Early life
General secretary of the CPSU: perestroika to the fall of the Soviet Union
Learn about Mikhail Gorbachev, his policy of perestroika, and his contribution to ending the Cold War
Learn about Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms in the Soviet Union and his contribution to German unification

Content: It was replaced by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a free association of sovereign states founded by the elected leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus (Belorussia). The CIS began operations in early 1992. At that time, Boris Yeltsin was president of Russia. The Russian government under Yeltsin assumed many of the responsibilities of the former Soviet Union. Dissatisfaction with the Yeltsin administration prompted Gorbachev to run for president of Russia in 1996. Gorbachev’s bid for the presidency was unsuccessful: he earned less than 1 percent of the vote. Read more below: Later life
Commonwealth of Independent States
Read about this association of states. Collapse of the Soviet Union
Learn about the collapse of the Soviet Union.