The
communist destruction of opposition parties in the summer of 1946 did little to foster reconciliation. Nationalist partisans coalesced around the former emperor
Bảo Đại to enter negotiations with the French. After the preliminary treaty of 7 December 1947 between Bảo Đại and the French High Commissioner in Indochina
Émile Bollaert, France officially severed all ties with the communist-led
Viet Minh. Another preliminary one, the
Hạ Long Bay Accords of 5 June 1948 (
Accords de la baie d’Along) recognized the independence of this government partly replacing the
Tonkin (Northern Vietnam),
Annam (Central Vietnam) and associated to France within the
French Union and the
Indochinese Federation then including the neighboring
Kingdom of Laos and
Kingdom of Cambodia. However, while the participants had agreed on the reunification of
Cochinchina (Southern Vietnam) with Tonkin and Annam, it had a different status from the other two territories and retained a separate administration. Former Emperor Bảo Đại, whom the French wanted to bring back to power as a political alternative to President
Ho Chi Minh, insisted that all Vietnam should be reunited before he took office as "chief of State". General
Nguyễn Văn Xuân, until then head of the Cochinchinese government, signed the agreements on Bảo Đại's behalf and became head of the newly formed Provisional Central Government; he was replaced by
Trần Văn Hữu as president of the Cochinchinese administration. Although Vietnam was not yet reunited, and far from being autonomous, the French had agreed for the first time to include the word "independence" in the agreements. Vietnam became partially independent and unified as an associated state within the French Union with
an official treaty on 8 March 1949; that took effect on 14 June 1949, was accepted by French parliament on 29 February 1950, and was signed by French president on February 2. During its short existence, the Provisional Central Government had very limited means, and was denounced by the Viet Minh as a "
puppet government." The Xuân government was able to create several administrative units in Northern and Central Vietnam, but it was entirely dependent on the French as it initially had no army, no police forces and – being, unlike the government of Cochinchina, unable to collect taxes – no independent financial resources. As the
Indochina War raged on, the Provisional Central Government was regarded as near-impotent. Also, the French administration was still in place in Tonkin and Annam and was often reluctant to relinquish power to the new Vietnamese administration. It would become the
Vietnamese National Army on 8 December 1950. The Vietnamese situation remained deadlocked for over a year, as Bảo Đại refused to return to Vietnam and take office as head of state until the country was fully reunited. Finally, the French National Assembly voted a law set to create a Cochinchinese territorial assembly which would replace the former council. The new assembly was elected on 10 April 1949, and the Vietnamese became a majority. and the
State of Vietnam was then officially proclaimed on July 2. == Cabinet ==