Operation Achse (, "Case Axis"), originally called Operation Alaric (), was the codename of the German plans to forcibly disarm the Italian armed forces after their expected armistice with the Allied forces in 1943. Several German divisions had already entered Italy after the fall of Benito Mussolini in July 1943 (the Grand Council of Fascism had dropped Mussolini 24./25. july), while Italy was officially still an ally of Germany, despite the protests of the new Italian government under Pietro Badoglio.