The Vietnam War was fought from 1955 to 1975 between North Vietnam, supported by China and Russia, against South Vietnam and its allies led by the United States. The US wanted to prevent the communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of its containment strategy against communism. Ho Chi Minh led North Vietnam and created the Vietcong guerilla forces to increase armed struggle in South Vietnam. A major turning point was the Tet Offensive in which the Vietcong broke a ceasefire agreement and launched surprise attacks, resulting in over 58,000 American deaths and around 350,000 total deaths, with the US ultimately unable to contain the spread of communism.