Army Council (1904) practice, however, a huge amount of influence was retained by the exceedingly conservative C-in-C Field Marshal Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge, who held the post between 1856–1895. His resistance to reform caused military efficiency to lag well behind Britain's rivals, a problem which became painfully obvious during the Second Boer War. The situation was only remedied in 1904 when the post of Commander-in-Chief was abolished and replaced with that of the Chief of the General Staff. An Army Council was created along similar lines to the Board of Admiralty, chaired by the Secretary of State for War, and an
Komandarm 1st rank military branches, Fleet Flag Officer 1st rank in the "Soviet navy", or to Komissar of state security 1st rank . With the reintroduction of regular genera ranks, the designation "Komandarm 1st rank" was abolished, and replaced by General of the Army (OF-9). By foundation of the Soviet Union the rank designation and rank insignia of the Imperial Russian Army suppressed. However, an alternative rank structure was introduced by disposal of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union and the Council of People's Commissars, from September 22, 1935. The new rank structure was as follows: By appointment of Kulik, Timoschenko