The Vietnam War was a long, (November 1, 1955 – April 30, 1975) costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans and 2,649 from Michigan) were killed in the Vietnam War with more than half of the deaths being Vietnamese civilians.