The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong (VC) launched a surprise attack against American forces and their allies throughout South Vietnam in an attempt to trigger political instability to collapse the South Vietnamese government.
The Tet Offensive marked the end of the Vietnam War and the victory of the VC. Although the United States and South Vietnamese forces successfully fended off a majority of communist forces, the political instability created by the attack was substantial. Growing anti-war sentiment caused the eventual withdrawal of American forces and a massive demoralization for the South Vietnamese military, leading to the communist reunification of Vietnam.