With the Japanese defeat in World War II imminent, Indonesia proclaimed its independence on 17 August 1945. Almost two months later, Oerip Soemohardjo, a Dutch-trained soldier who had formerly been an officer in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, was tasked with establishing a new national army, based in Yogyakarta. Though he temporarily used a room at Hotel Merdeka (now Inna Garuda) for his base of command, soon the Sultan of Yogyakarta, Hamengkubuwono IX, donated the former Japanese barracks to be the Army's designated headquarters.