Operation Achse
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Operation Achse was the German military plan and operation to disarm the Italian armed forces and seize Italy and Italian-occupied territories after Italy concluded the Cassibile Armistice with the Allies. When the armistice was announced on 8 September 1943, German forces occupied central and northern Italy, including Rome, and disarmed and interned hundreds of thousands of Italian soldiers, while some Italian units resisted.
In depth
Name and planning
The German High Command prepared several regional plans for a possible Italian withdrawal from the war. The plan for occupying mainland Italy was initially called Operation Alaric (Unternehmen Alarich); after Mussolini's fall on 25 July 1943, it was renamed Fall Achse, and related plans were consolidated.
Execution
The Cassibile Armistice was signed on 3 September but not announced until 8 September. German forces had already been positioned across Italy and exploited the resulting command vacuum to seize strategic locations. Rome was occupied on 10 September, while the Germans disarmed large numbers of Italian troops and transferred many to Germany as military internees. On Cephalonia, soldiers of the Acqui Division who resisted disarmament were massacred after surrendering.
The operation enabled Germany to occupy northern and central Italy and support the creation of Mussolini's Italian Social Republic at Salò. At the same time, resistance by parts of the Italian armed forces, civilians, and partisan forces helped create the conditions for the Italian resistance war against the occupation.
Related historical events
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) (operation's purpose, renaming from Alaric, armistice announcement, occupation, disarmament, Rome, Cephalonia, and Italian Social Republic)
- de.wikipedia.org (German codename, dates, objectives, occupation of Italy, disarmament and internment, and resistance)
- liberationroute.com (Cassibile Armistice dates and the triggering of Operation Achse after its announcement)