<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev" id="mwAQE" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Mikhail Gorbachev">Mikhail Gorbachev</a> is elected to the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union" id="mwAQI" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a>, making Gorbachev the USSR's de facto, and last, head of state.<sup about="#mwt161" class="mw-ref reference" data-mw='{"name":"ref","attrs":{},"body":{"id":"mw-reference-text-cite_note-30"}}' id="cite_ref-30" rel="dc:references" typeof="mw:Extension/ref"><a href="./March_11#cite_note-30" id="mwAQM" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 30;"><span class="mw-reflink-text" id="mwAQQ">[30]</span></a></sup>
<span class="mw-reference-text" id="mw-reference-text-cite_note-30"><cite about="#mwt158" class="citation web cs1" id="mwB-Y"><a class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/11/newsid_2538000/2538327.stm" id="mwB-c" rel="mw:ExtLink nofollow">"1985: Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader"</a>. <i id="mwB-g">BBC News</i>. 11 March 1985<span class="reference-accessdate" id="mwB-k">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap" id="mwB-o">8 October</span> 2020</span>.</cite><span about="#mwt158" class="Z3988" id="mwB-s" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=unknown&amp;rft.jtitle=BBC+News&amp;rft.atitle=1985%3A+Gorbachev+becomes+Soviet+leader&amp;rft.date=1985-03-11&amp;rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2Fonthisday%2Fhi%2Fdates%2Fstories%2Fmarch%2F11%2Fnewsid_2538000%2F2538327.stm&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMarch+11"></span></span>