ABSTRACT
The German High Command wanted to secure a line deep into Soviet territory, running along the objectives Archangel-Kotlas-Gorky-Volga-Astrakhan in five months. Germany had not only easily defeated her adversaries before June 1941, but her war potential had also been augmented considerably with access to the resources of the occupied countries. Germany consequently commanded over considerable military and economic resources. From the beginning of the Soviet-German war, assessments became more comprehensive, more elaborate and directly connected to the ongoing war effort. The Soviets' primary immediate needs were thought to be military supplies and transport equipment. A geographically separate and militarily much smaller front was also soon established along the Finnish-Soviet border, and the border area between German occupied Norway and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). From the beginning of the Soviet-German war, assessments became more comprehensive, more elaborate and directly connected to the ongoing war effort.
