The Arkhangelsk–Astrakhan line, or A–A line for short, was the military goal of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

. It is also known as the Volga–Arkhangelsk line, as well as (more rarely) the Volga–Arkhangelsk–Astrakhan line. It was first mentioned on 18 December 1940 in ''Führer'' Directive 21 () which enunciated the set goals and conditions of the German invasion of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, describing the attainment of the "general line Volga–Archangelsk" as its overall military objective..

Background

The line had its origins in an earlier military study carried out in the summer of 1940 by General Erich Marcks called the ''Operation Draft East''.Kay, Alex J. (2006). Exploitation, Resettlement, Mass Murder: Political and Economic Planning for German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union, 1940-1941"
p. 31
Berghahn Books. This report advocated the occupation of the Soviet Union up to the line "

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

- Gorky- Rostov" in order to prevent it from being a threat to Germany in the future and "protect it against enemy bombers". Marcks envisioned that the campaign, including the capture of Moscow and beyond, would require between nine and seventeen weeks to complete. The hypothetical A-A line was to stretch from the port city of

on the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

in northern Russia to the port city of

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

at the mouth of the

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

on the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

. Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union failed to secure any of these objectives.

Goals

The plan was for the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

to the west of the line to be defeated in a quick military campaign in 1941 before the onset of winter.Rich, Norman (1973). ''Hitler's War Aims: Ideology, the Nazi State, and the Course of Expansion'', pp. 210–212. W. W. Norton & Company Inc., New York. The ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

'' assumed that the majority of Soviet military supplies and the main part of the

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

and population potential of the Soviet Union existed in the lands that lay to the west of the proposed A-A line. If the line was reached, the Soviet Union would also be deprived of around 86% of its

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

assets (oil territories in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

). The A-A line as the end-goal of military hostilities was chosen because an occupation of the entire Soviet Union in a single military campaign was considered impossible in view of its geographic dimensions. The remaining Soviet industrial centers further eastward were planned to be destroyed by aerial bombardment, for which an entire ''

Luftflotte A list of ''Luftwaffe "Luftflotten"'' (Air Fleets) and their locations between 1939 and 1945. Timeline ImageSize = width:580 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:80 bottom:60 top:10 right:40 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy ...

'' ("air fleet"; equivalent in status to an army group) was to be assigned.

Notes

References

{{WWII history by nation 1940 in the Soviet Union 1940 in Germany Military history of the Soviet Union Military of Nazi Germany Axis powers Geopolitical terminology

Background

Goals

See also

Notes

References