On 28 August 1945 , Giáp led his men into Hanoi , and on 2 September , Ho Chi Minh declared the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam . He formed a new government , with Giáp as Minister of the Interior . Unknown to the Việt Minh , President Harry S. Truman , Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin had already decided the future of postwar Vietnam at a summit meeting at Potsdam . They agreed that the country would be occupied temporarily to get the Japanese out ; the northern half would be under the control of the Nationalist Chinese and the southern half under the British
Potsdam
Potsdam Conference
Võ Nguyên Giáp