The
State of Vietnam was a state that claimed authority over all of
Vietnam during the
First Indochina War although it controlled about under 5% of national territory of Vietnam. The provisional government was a brief transitional administration between colonial
Cochinchina and an independent state. The state was created in 1949 and was internationally recognized in 1950, although its main power was mainly in a small part of the south, whereas the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam mainly dominated almost Vietnamese territory. Former emperor
Bảo Đại was chief of state (
Quốc Trưởng).
Ngô Đình Diệm was appointed
prime minister in 1954, and after ousting Bảo Đại the following year, became
president of the
Republic of Vietnam.