The Tet Offensive was a military campaign during the Vietnam War that began on January 31, 1968. Regular and irregular forces of the People's Army of Vietnam, as well as NLF (Viet Cong) resistance fighters, fought against the forces of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), the United States, and their allies. The purpose of the offensive was to strike military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam and to spark a general uprising among the population that would then topple the Saigon government, thus ending the war in a single blow. Although the offensive failed militarily, it succeeded psychologically, undermining American confidence and marking a major turning point in the Second Indochina War (Vietnam War).