A-A line
A-A선
The A-A line was a hypothetical strategic objective in Nazi Germany’s plan for the invasion of the Soviet Union, running from Arkhangelsk in the north to Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea. Set out in Führer Directive 21 of 18 December 1940, it represented an attempt to place the Soviet Union’s European territory, population, and economic potential under German control.
In depth
Formation and meaning
The line was known in German as the AA-Linie, or the Arkhangelsk–Astrakhan line. Führer Directive 21 described the general objective of advancing to a line from the Volga to Arkhangelsk; the later expression A-A line commonly names the concept by extending it southward to Astrakhan.
It was not a defensive frontier but a planning benchmark for military conquest and the establishment of an occupation and exploitation system in the western Soviet Union. German leaders expected to reach it before autumn 1941, but Soviet resistance, logistical difficulties, climate, and the expanding front made that objective unattainable.
Sources
- Wikipedia (RU) (A-A선의 명칭, 바르바로사 작전상의 전략적 목표, 총통 지령 21호와 도달 계획을 지원)
- iwm.org.uk (1940년 12월 18일 총통 지령 21호, 아르한겔스크에서 아스트라한까지의 가상선, 독일의 정복 목표와 실패 경위를 지원)