The Tet Offensive of 1968 (), or officially called The General Offensive and Uprising of Tet Mau Than 1968 () was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces of the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), the United States Armed Forces and their allies. It was a campaign of surprise attacks against military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam. The name is the truncated version of the Lunar New Year festival name in Vietnamese, Tết Nguyên Đán. However, tết only means "festival" in Vietnamese. ""Tổng tiến công và nổi dậy, Tết Mậu Thân"", literally translated to English, means "The General Offensive and Uprising, Lunar New Year Events".