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131-531: The Potsdamer Bahnhof was the Berlin terminus of the city's first railway , linking it with Potsdam . Begun in 1835, it was opened from the Potsdam end as far as Zehlendorf on 22 September 1838, and its entire length of 26 km on 29 October. The first train was hauled by a British -built locomotive, the work of Robert Stephenson at his Newcastle-upon-Tyne works in 1835, and called Adler (Eagle). In 1848,

262-659: A Neutrality Pact in April 1941, and Japan adopted the doctrine of Nanshin-ron , promoted by the Navy, which took its focus southward and eventually led to war with the United States and the Western Allies. In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming more aggressive. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria , again provoking little response from other European powers. Encouraged, Hitler began pressing German claims on

393-578: A cautious French probe into the Saarland . The Western Allies also began a naval blockade of Germany , which aimed to damage the country's economy and war effort. Germany responded by ordering U-boat warfare against Allied merchant and warships, which would later escalate into the Battle of the Atlantic . On 8 September, German troops reached the suburbs of Warsaw . The Polish counter-offensive to

524-888: A salient south from the rest of Mitte towards, and just over, the Landwehr Canal . The result was that Potsdamer Bahnhof was in the Soviet Sector of Berlin , which became the de facto capital of East Germany , while the approach track and neighbourhood to the East were in the American Sector of Berlin , and the neighbourhood to the West in the British Sector . As a terminus within East Berlin , but with its approach tracks coming through West Berlin , as with

655-610: A 55-hectare (140-acre) site for the construction of Magdeburg central station . The Berlin–Potsdam–Magdeburger railway built its station at the western end of the station complex. It built a new line between Burg and Magdeburg, crossing the ridge of the Hohen Fläming in Moser and the Herrenkrug Railway Bridge and abandoning the old line from Burg via Niegripp, Hohenwarthe, Lostau and Gerwisch. On 1 June 1874,

786-517: A 90-year-old steel truss bridge had already been replaced. After the opening of the Hanover–Berlin high-speed line in September 1998, long-distance traffic shifted to that route and the number of trains on the line through Brandenburg and Magdeburg fell heavily. After the Potsdam station was bombed and badly damaged in 1945 a minor building temporarily served as the main station building. Due to

917-597: A branch from Zehlendorf, the Wannsee Railway (later known as the Old Wannsee line) with stations at Schlachtensee and Wannsee was opened. In the same year, stations at Friedenau , Lichterfelde and Griebnitzsee were opened for local services. On 1 October 1891, the New Wannsee line open from Zehlendorf to Berlin parallel with the trunk line. It served suburban traffic while long-distance trains ran on

1048-509: A branch line for freight, including automotive parts bound for the Ford factory in Cologne . From about 1900 there was a great need to relieve the railway lines in Berlin from an increase in freight traffic. The establishment of a bypass line around Berlin was also considered of strategic importance. Starting from Jüterbog on line runs via Seddin to Potsdam Wildpark station where the line joins

1179-493: A considerable distance. Since most of these were specifically using the Ringbahnhof, it gave the impression that the entire terminus was simply a suburban or commuter station handling exclusively short haul services, yet the main line services, including those to Paris and other French destinations, were definitely still running. The previous year, the terminus, together with the line from Potsdam, had reached its centenary, and

1310-785: A limited service ran between Werder and Potsdam Babelsberg, and a few trains ran to Jüterbog. With the opening of the border in 1989 and the renovation of the Berlin Stadtbahn in 1997 traffic flows changed substantially and by the BAR platforms on the upper part of Pirschheide station are now no longer served by passenger trains. The BAR is still heavily used by freight trains, both serving the Seddin marshalling yard (south of Potsdam) and for trains between western Germany and Poland. Between October 1899 and December 1965 (passenger) and October 1967 (freight), trains ran from Groß Kreutzstation on

1441-551: A new residential area in an attempt to increase passenger numbers. After the West Berlin railway employees strike in late summer 1980, S-Bahn operations were closed on18 September 1980 on the Zehlendorf–Düppel section. The platform equipment were gradually dismantled and used elsewhere and the buildings collapsed over the years. In 1952 border controls were installed in the formerly suburban station of Griebnitzsee. Due to

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1572-565: A number of new stations. The Berlin city terminus was moved from the Anhalter Bahnhof to the Potsdam Ringbahn station. This line was the first Berlin suburban line to be electrified with Third Rail , opened on 2 July 1903. Originally using 550 V DC, it was converted to 800 V in April 1929, in the course of the "Grand Electrification" of the core of Berlin's city, Ring, and suburban lines. The lines terminating in

1703-524: A pretext to initiate the invasion. The first German attack of the war came against the Polish defences at Westerplatte . The United Kingdom responded with an ultimatum for Germany to cease military operations, and on 3 September, after the ultimatum was ignored, Britain and France declared war on Germany. During the Phoney War period, the alliance provided no direct military support to Poland, outside of

1834-781: A pretext to worsen relations. On 29 August, Hitler demanded that a Polish plenipotentiary immediately travel to Berlin to negotiate the handover of Danzig , and to allow a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor in which the German minority would vote on secession. The Poles refused to comply with the German demands, and on the night of 30–31 August in a confrontational meeting with the British ambassador Nevile Henderson , Ribbentrop declared that Germany considered its claims rejected. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland after having staged several false flag border incidents as

1965-644: A railway in Prussia. After the opening of the Bavarian Ludwig Railway showed that railways could be operated economically in Germany, it was decided to establish a railway in Prussia. The Prussian Railway Act of 3 November 1838 established the basis for operating private railway companies and also provided for the Prussian state to take them over after 30 years. The Berlin-Potsdam Railway opened

2096-475: A secret protocol that defined German and Soviet "spheres of influence" (western Poland and Lithuania for Germany; eastern Poland , Finland, Estonia , Latvia and Bessarabia for the Soviet Union), and raised the question of continuing Polish independence. The pact neutralised the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland and assured that Germany would not have to face the prospect of

2227-579: A signal at danger at Belicke and ran into the D 10 at 100 to 110 km/h. The contemporary news media understated the death toll and gave only limited coverage of the accident. The war-damaged Potsdam station closed in 1945 and the southern section of the S-Bahn was closed in 1945–1946 and never reopened. The badly damaged Herrenkrug bridge in Magdeburg was temporarily repaired and put back into operation on 12 March 1946. In order to supply reparations to

2358-774: A similar pact and rejected ceding part of its territory to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939, and was subsequently expelled from the League of Nations for this crime of aggression. Despite overwhelming numerical superiority, Soviet military success during the Winter War was modest, and the Finno-Soviet war ended in March 1940 with some Finnish concessions of territory . In June 1940,

2489-531: A two-front war, as it had in World War   I. Immediately afterwards, Hitler ordered the attack to proceed on 26 August, but upon hearing that the United Kingdom had concluded a formal mutual assistance pact with Poland and that Italy would maintain neutrality, he decided to delay it. In response to British requests for direct negotiations to avoid war, Germany made demands on Poland, which served as

2620-561: A unique location in post-war Berlin. Located in the so-called lower Friedrichsvorstadt the Potsdamer Bahnhof became part of the new Kreuzberg borough in 1920. Since a change of borough boundaries in 1938, the boroughs of Tiergarten and Kreuzberg lay on either side of Potsdamer Bahnhof, but the boundary of the borough of Mitte skirted around the site of Potsdamer Bahnhof, so it formed a long thin rectangle within Mitte extending as

2751-405: A very different course. During World War II the terminus, like most of Berlin, was devastated by Royal Air Force and US Air Force bombs and Soviet artillery shells. Despite some rubble clearance and emergency repairs, damage to rail infrastructure further out was so great that the mainline terminus never saw another train, it and the Ringbahnhof finally closed on 3 August 1944. Shortly after

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2882-541: A year were using it, and it was holding its own against a larger rival down the road (the Anhalter Bahnhof ). Still the facilities could not cope, and so in 1890–1891 two additional termini were built on either side of it for short-haul and suburban traffic: on the east side, the Ringbahnhof , opened on 1 April 1891 to serve the Ringbahn itself, the circular route skirting the city's perimeter with connections to all

3013-486: Is currently served by local trains on line RB 22 hourly. Freight trains generally use the Berlin outer ring. The 30 September 1956, the final section of the Berlin outer ring (German: Berliner Außenring , BAR) was completed, forming a ring around West Berlin . This extended the existing outer freight ring (Güteraußenring, GAR) by adding a new section between Werder and Saarmund crossing the Templiner See . During

3144-604: The Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German–Polish declaration of non-aggression . The situation became a crisis in late August as German troops continued to mobilise against the Polish border. On 23 August the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Germany, after tripartite negotiations for a military alliance between France, the United Kingdom, and Soviet Union had stalled. This pact had

3275-481: The Berlin Wall and the closure of Potsdamer Platz S-Bahn station left the area to the West of the site of the Potsdamer Bahnhof a long way from rapid transport networks. West Berlin's purchase of the site from the East opened an opportunity to solve that problem, and trains, of a sort, returned to the site of the station, since a part of Tiergarten quarter , in the shape of the short-lived M-Bahn , which crossed

3406-689: The British Empire , with fighting in the Balkans , Mediterranean, and Middle East , the aerial Battle of Britain and the Blitz , and naval Battle of the Atlantic . Through a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany took control of much of continental Europe and formed the Axis alliance with Italy , Japan , and other countries. In June 1941, Germany led the European Axis in an invasion of

3537-581: The German Revolution of 1918–1919 , and a democratic government, later known as the Weimar Republic , was created. The interwar period saw strife between supporters of the new republic and hardline opponents on both the political right and left. Italy, as an Entente ally, had made some post-war territorial gains; however, Italian nationalists were angered that the promises made by the United Kingdom and France to secure Italian entrance into

3668-853: The German invasion of Poland and the United Kingdom and France 's declaration of war on Germany two days later on 3 September 1939. Dates for the beginning of the Pacific War include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the earlier Japanese invasion of Manchuria , on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor , who stated that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously, and

3799-576: The Italian mainland , and Allied offensives in the Pacific—cost the Axis powers their initiative and forced them into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France at Normandy , while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and pushed Germany and its allies westward. At the same time, Japan suffered reversals in mainland Asia, while the Allies crippled

3930-553: The Japanese Navy and captured key islands . The war in Europe concluded with the liberation of German-occupied territories ; the invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the fall of Berlin to Soviet troops; Hitler's suicide ; and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 . Following the refusal of Japan to surrender on the terms of the Potsdam Declaration ,

4061-695: The League of Nations as a force to preserve peace. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations, but the League did little when the former clearly violated Article X of the League's Covenant . The United Kingdom and France supported imposing sanctions on Italy for the invasion, but the sanctions were not fully enforced and failed to end the Italian invasion. Italy subsequently dropped its objections to Germany's goal of absorbing Austria . When civil war broke out in Spain, Hitler and Mussolini lent military support to

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4192-731: The Nationalist rebels , led by General Francisco Franco . Italy supported the Nationalists to a greater extent than the Nazis: Mussolini sent more than 70,000 ground troops, 6,000 aviation personnel, and 720 aircraft to Spain. The Soviet Union supported the existing government of the Spanish Republic . More than 30,000 foreign volunteers, known as the International Brigades , also fought against

4323-690: The Rome–Berlin Axis . A month later, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact , which Italy joined the following year. The Kuomintang (KMT) party in China launched a unification campaign against regional warlords and nominally unified China in the mid-1920s, but was soon embroiled in a civil war against its former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allies and new regional warlords . In 1931, an increasingly militaristic Empire of Japan , which had long sought influence in China as

4454-562: The Soviet Union the second track was removed from sections of the line until 1948. In April 1945, the railway bridge over the Teltow Canal was blown up and later the track between Griebnitzsee and Düppel was singled to provide reparations. As of 1 December 1945, therefore, only shuttles ran between Düppel and Zehlendorf. As of 15 June 1948 this section was electrified, to reduce the significant costs of steam operations. The line

4585-590: The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941. By contrast, the Germans were steadily making preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union, massing forces on the Soviet border. Hitler believed that the United Kingdom's refusal to end the war was based on the hope that the United States and the Soviet Union would enter the war against Germany sooner or later. On 31 July 1940, Hitler decided that

4716-664: The Stettiner Bahnhof , the Deutsche Reichsbahn were not particularly anxious to restore many services to the station. Another interruption of services was caused by the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany , no trains running between 17 June, the day of the uprising, and 9 July. Above ground, the remains of the terminus were cleared away in stages between 1957 and 1960 after a vague attempt at restoration

4847-421: The Stresa Front in April 1935 in order to contain Germany, a key step towards military globalisation ; however, that June, the United Kingdom made an independent naval agreement with Germany, easing prior restrictions. The Soviet Union, concerned by Germany's goals of capturing vast areas of Eastern Europe , drafted a treaty of mutual assistance with France. Before taking effect, though, the Franco-Soviet pact

4978-523: The Sudetenland , an area of Czechoslovakia with a predominantly ethnic German population. Soon the United Kingdom and France followed the appeasement policy of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and conceded this territory to Germany in the Munich Agreement , which was made against the wishes of the Czechoslovak government, in exchange for a promise of no further territorial demands. Soon afterwards, Germany and Italy forced Czechoslovakia to cede additional territory to Hungary, and Poland annexed

5109-428: The Tanggu Truce was signed in 1933. Thereafter, Chinese volunteer forces continued the resistance to Japanese aggression in Manchuria , and Chahar and Suiyuan . After the 1936 Xi'an Incident , the Kuomintang and CCP forces agreed on a ceasefire to present a united front to oppose Japan. The Second Italo-Ethiopian War was a brief colonial war that began in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war began with

5240-466: The Trans-Olza region of Czechoslovakia. Although all of Germany's stated demands had been satisfied by the agreement, privately Hitler was furious that British interference had prevented him from seizing all of Czechoslovakia in one operation. In subsequent speeches Hitler attacked British and Jewish "war-mongers" and in January 1939 secretly ordered a major build-up of the German navy to challenge British naval supremacy. In March 1939, Germany invaded

5371-506: The Treaty of Craiova . The loss of one-third of Romania's 1939 territory caused a coup against King Carol II, turning Romania into a fascist dictatorship under Marshal Ion Antonescu , with a course set towards the Axis in the hopes of a German guarantee. Meanwhile, German-Soviet political relations and economic co-operation gradually stalled, and both states began preparations for war. In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to protect shipments of iron ore from Sweden , which

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5502-401: The United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany. Poland was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , in which they had agreed on " spheres of influence " in Eastern Europe. In 1940, the Soviets annexed the Baltic states and parts of Finland and Romania . After the fall of France in June 1940, the war continued mainly between Germany and

5633-426: The Wehrmacht rapidly advanced to the Channel and cut off the Allied forces in Belgium, trapping the bulk of the Allied armies in a cauldron on the Franco-Belgian border near Lille. The United Kingdom was able to evacuate a significant number of Allied troops from the continent by early June, although they had to abandon almost all their equipment. On 10 June, Italy invaded France , declaring war on both France and

5764-451: The aftermath of World War I and the rise of fascism in Europe and militarism in Japan . Key events leading up to the war included Japan's invasion of Manchuria , the Spanish Civil War , the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , and Germany's annexations of Austria and the Sudetenland . World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, when Nazi Germany , under Adolf Hitler , invaded Poland , prompting

5895-402: The great powers —participated, with many investing all available economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities in pursuit of total war , blurring the distinction between military and civilian resources. Tanks and aircraft played major roles , with the latter enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and delivery of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II

6026-404: The reunification of East and West Germany to take place and resolved most post–World War   II issues. No formal peace treaty between Japan and the Soviet Union was ever signed, although the state of war between the two countries was terminated by the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956 , which also restored full diplomatic relations between them. World War I had radically altered

6157-418: The tunnel under the Tiergarten includes structures allowing a connection at a later stage to the trunk line. Until recently, this project has not been considered to be economically justified. The entire trunk line between the Gleisdreieck area and Zehlendorf station would have to be rebuilt. The route would have to be widened to fit in a double track line at the spacings now required. Furthermore, many of

6288-414: The 12 km long light railway to Lehnin via Nahmitz. Significant volumes of freight formerly ran over the originally private Brandenburg Towns Railways ( Brandenburgische Städtebahn ) to and from Brandenburg, which in turn connected near Brandenburg station to a formerly extensive network of sidings to the Philipp Weber iron and steel works and the city's port. Several branch lines were built from

6419-444: The 175th anniversary celebrations in 2010, for the Nuremberg - Fürth railway line , Germany's first. 52°30′25″N 13°22′32″E  /  52.50703°N 13.37553°E  / 52.50703; 13.37553 Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway [REDACTED] The first section of the Berlin–Magdeburg Railway was opened in 1838 as the Berlin-Potsdam Railway also known as trunk line (German: Stammbahn ) and

6550-409: The Allies were attempting to cut off . Denmark capitulated after six hours , and despite Allied support , Norway was conquered within two months. British discontent over the Norwegian campaign led to the resignation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain , who was replaced by Winston Churchill on 10   May 1940. On the same day, Germany launched an offensive against France . To circumvent

6681-400: The Axis war against the Soviet Union, in Romania's case partially to recapture territory ceded to the Soviet Union . In early June 1940, the Italian Regia Aeronautica attacked and besieged Malta , a British possession. From late summer to early autumn, Italy conquered British Somaliland and made an incursion into British-held Egypt . In October, Italy attacked Greece , but the attack

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6812-515: The Berlin Wall the Griebnitzsee border control station on the main railway was expanded for transit between East and West Berlin, with substantial changes to track work. The restoration of the second track between Magdeburg and Werder was completed in 1976. In 1983 the second track was restored to the section between Werder and Berlin-Wannsee. With the completion of the electrification of the Griebnitzsee–Brandenburg an der Havel–Biederitz section in December 1995, Intercity-Express trains could now take

6943-412: The Berlin–Potsdam line to Magdeburg and was later merged with the Berlin–Potsdam Railway to create the Berlin–Potsdam–Magdeburg Railway Company (German: Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburger Eisenbahngesellschaft ). Although the Potsdam station was directly connected with central Potsdam by the Long Bridge (German: Lange Brücke ), the extension of the railway towards Brandenburg over the Havel and on to Magdeburg

7074-459: The Berlin–Potsdam–Magdeburg Railway. A few kilometres further west, the route branches off in a northerly direction through Golm to Wustermark and Kremmen . Since 1957 the northern part has been part of the Berlin outer ring and carried heavy traffic, especially freight trains. Also Regionalbahn (local) line RB 21 runs between Griebnitzsee and Wustermark hourly. Every two hours local trains run between Potsdam and Hennigsdorf . The southern part

7205-421: The Blitz , but largely ended in May 1941 after failing to significantly disrupt the British war effort. Using newly captured French ports, the German Navy enjoyed success against an over-extended Royal Navy , using U-boats against British shipping in the Atlantic . The British Home Fleet scored a significant victory on 27   May 1941 by sinking the German battleship Bismarck . In November 1939,

7336-402: The Communist period, the Berlin outer ring was of considerable importance for the long-distance and freight traffic. Almost all long-distance trains, except trains running between West Germany and West Berlin via Griebnitzsee branched off the main Magdeburg–Brandenburg–Potsdam line in Werder on to the outer ring in order to bypass West Berlin to the south to reach East Berlin. The line was one of

7467-405: The European Axis declaring war on the US. Japan conquered much of coastal China and Southeast Asia , but its advances in the Pacific were halted in mid-1942 after its defeat in the naval Battle of Midway ; Germany and Italy were defeated in North Africa and at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. Key setbacks in 1943—including German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and

7598-410: The French possessions of Syria and Lebanon , assisted by the Free French . With the situation in Europe and Asia relatively stable, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union made preparations for war. With the Soviets wary of mounting tensions with Germany, and the Japanese planning to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European possessions in Southeast Asia , the two powers signed

7729-426: The Germans, and the last large operational unit of the Polish Army surrendered on 6   October . Despite the military defeat, Poland never surrendered; instead, it formed the Polish government-in-exile and a clandestine state apparatus remained in occupied Poland. A significant part of Polish military personnel evacuated to Romania and Latvia; many of them later fought against the Axis in other theatres of

7860-450: The Nationalists. Both Germany and the Soviet Union used this proxy war as an opportunity to test in combat their most advanced weapons and tactics. The Nationalists won the civil war in April 1939; Franco, now dictator, remained officially neutral during World War   II but generally favoured the Axis . His greatest collaboration with Germany was the sending of volunteers to fight on the Eastern Front . In July 1937, Japan captured

7991-407: The Potsdamer Bahnhof Wannsee station and the mainline terminus had to wait until 15 May 1933 to be electrified. The Ringbahnhof ultimately handled many times as many passengers as the mainline terminus. Although smaller than the Anhalter Bahnhof, the Potsdamer Bahnhof was much the busier of the two. By 1939, up to 83,000 people per day were using it, actually making it the busiest station in Berlin by

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8122-446: The Potsdamer Bahnhof was determined by World War II , and yet even if the war had not occurred, major changes would still have taken place. Under the grand plan by Adolf Hitler , to transform Berlin into the Welthauptstadt (World Capital) Germania , to be realised by Albert Speer , the building would have ceased to be a railway terminus. The new North-South Axis, the linchpin of the plan, would have severed its approach tracks, leaving

8253-452: The Royal Navy putting three Italian battleships out of commission after a carrier attack at Taranto , and neutralising several more warships at the Battle of Cape Matapan . Italian defeats prompted Germany to deploy an expeditionary force to North Africa; at the end of March 1941, Rommel 's Afrika Korps launched an offensive which drove back Commonwealth forces. In less than a month, Axis forces advanced to western Egypt and besieged

8384-449: The Schönow district on theTeltow Canal and the industrial area on the canal. The operation on the Zehlendorf railway was originally carried out with horse-drawn carriages. From 1908 it began to use a fireless locomotive . During World War I it used its first steam locomotive to serve the Goerz film supply factory. On the Goerz Railway passenger were also carried until this service was closed during World War II. The route currently serves as

8515-429: The Second World War was the largest shoe manufacturer in Europe. This meant that large quantities of cattle were required for the local slaughterhouse, which was opened in 1899. After reunification there were initially plans to reopen the disused section of the trunk line (German: Stammbahn ) between Berlin and Potsdam. As part of the construction of the new North–south main line for long-distance and regional trains,

8646-423: The Soviet Union occupied the entire territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the Romanian regions of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and the Hertsa region . In August 1940, Hitler imposed the Second Vienna Award on Romania which led to the transfer of Northern Transylvania to Hungary. In September 1940, Bulgaria demanded Southern Dobruja from Romania with German and Italian support, leading to

8777-421: The Soviet Union , opening the Eastern Front and initially making large territorial gains. Japan aimed to dominate East Asia and the Asia-Pacific , and by 1937 was at war with the Republic of China . In December 1941, Japan attacked American and British territories in Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific , including Pearl Harbor in Hawaii , which resulted in the US and the UK declaring war against Japan, and

8908-418: The Soviet Union and Mongolia . The Japanese doctrine of Hokushin-ron , which emphasised Japan's expansion northward, was favoured by the Imperial Army during this time. This policy would prove difficult to maintain in light of the Japanese defeat at Khalkin Gol in 1939, the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War and ally Nazi Germany pursuing neutrality with the Soviets. Japan and the Soviet Union eventually signed

9039-575: The Soviet Union should be eliminated and aimed for the conquest of Ukraine , the Baltic states and Byelorussia . However, other senior German officials like Ribbentrop saw an opportunity to create a Euro-Asian bloc against the British Empire by inviting the Soviet Union into the Tripartite Pact. In November 1940, negotiations took place to determine if the Soviet Union would join the pact. The Soviets showed some interest but asked for concessions from Finland, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Japan that Germany considered unacceptable. On 18 December 1940, Hitler issued

9170-402: The US dropped the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August. Faced with an imminent invasion of the Japanese archipelago , the possibility of further atomic bombings, and the Soviet declaration of war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria , Japan announced its unconditional surrender on 15 August and signed a surrender document on 2 September 1945 , marking

9301-424: The United Kingdom and France guaranteed their support for Polish independence ; when Italy conquered Albania in April 1939, the same guarantee was extended to the Kingdoms of Romania and Greece . Shortly after the Franco - British pledge to Poland, Germany and Italy formalised their own alliance with the Pact of Steel . Hitler accused the United Kingdom and Poland of trying to "encircle" Germany and renounced

9432-542: The United Kingdom attacked on 3   July in an attempt to prevent its seizure by Germany. The air Battle of Britain began in early July with Luftwaffe attacks on shipping and harbours . The German campaign for air superiority started in August but its failure to defeat RAF Fighter Command forced the indefinite postponement of the proposed German invasion of Britain . The German strategic bombing offensive intensified with night attacks on London and other cities in

9563-461: The United Kingdom. The Germans turned south against the weakened French army, and Paris fell to them on 14   June. Eight days later France signed an armistice with Germany ; it was divided into German and Italian occupation zones , and an unoccupied rump state under the Vichy Regime , which, though officially neutral, was generally aligned with Germany. France kept its fleet, which

9694-660: The United States was assisting China and the Western Allies, and had amended the Neutrality Act to allow "cash and carry" purchases by the Allies. In 1940, following the German capture of Paris, the size of the United States Navy was significantly increased . In September the United States further agreed to a trade of American destroyers for British bases . Still, a large majority of the American public continued to oppose any direct military intervention in

9825-606: The Yellow River ; this manoeuvre bought time for the Chinese to prepare their defences at Wuhan , but the city was taken by October. Japanese military victories did not bring about the collapse of Chinese resistance that Japan had hoped to achieve; instead, the Chinese government relocated inland to Chongqing and continued the war. In the mid-to-late 1930s, Japanese forces in Manchukuo had sporadic border clashes with

9956-671: The busiest routes in the East German Railway network. Regional services were provided by the so-called Sputnik trains every hour between Werder and Berlin-Karlhorst . Some of these trains connected to Brandenburg an der Havel. The opening of the Potsdam Hauptbahnhof (now Potsdam Pirschheide Station) in 1956 and the establishment of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961 meant that the Potsdam city station (now Potsdam Hauptbahnhof) lost most of its passengers. Only

10087-566: The capital Nanking in December 1937. After the fall of Nanking, tens or hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants were murdered by the Japanese . In March 1938, Nationalist Chinese forces won their first major victory at Taierzhuang , but then the city of Xuzhou was taken by the Japanese in May. In June 1938, Chinese forces stalled the Japanese advance by flooding

10218-527: The celebrations featured an operational replica of the "Adler" locomotive that had hauled the very first train 100 years previously (the original loco had been scrapped at Augsburg in 1857). The replica was the work of the DRG restoration workshop at Kaiserslautern in 1935. In 1939, the Wannsee Bahnhof on the west side closed, superseded by the new S-Bahn North-South Link described below. The fate of

10349-403: The conflict well into 1941. In December 1940, Roosevelt accused Hitler of planning world conquest and ruled out any negotiations as useless, calling for the United States to become an " arsenal of democracy " and promoting Lend-Lease programmes of military and humanitarian aid to support the British war effort; Lend-Lease was later extended to the other Allies, including the Soviet Union after it

10480-526: The creation of a " New Roman Empire ". Adolf Hitler , after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government in 1923, eventually became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933 when Paul von Hindenburg and the Reichstag appointed him. Following Hindenburg's death in 1934, Hitler proclaimed himself Führer of Germany and abolished democracy, espousing a radical, racially motivated revision of

10611-544: The direct route via Brandenburg instead of the now partially closed route through Bad Belzig and Güterglück (the strategic railway known as the Kanonenbahn , the "Cannons Railway"). At the same time the line was upgraded for a top speed of 160 km/h. The bridges over the Havel and Neustädter Bay in Potsdam had to be replaced, one of them with a new 57-metre tied-arch bridge , completed on 10 May 1995. The other bridge,

10742-461: The dismantling of the second track the capacity of the main line was greatly reduced. The opening of the Berlin outer ring in 1957 long-distance trains between Berlin and Werder (Havel) shifted to the new route to Berlin, with a new Potsdam Hauptbahnhof (now Potsdam Pirschheide) taking over the functions of the former Potsdam station, which was now served only by local trains. After the establishment of

10873-757: The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian Empires. To prevent a future world war, the League of Nations was established in 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference . The organisation's primary goals were to prevent armed conflict through collective security, military, and naval disarmament , as well as settling international disputes through peaceful negotiations and arbitration. Despite strong pacifist sentiment after World War   I , irredentist and revanchist nationalism had emerged in several European states. These sentiments were especially marked in Germany because of

11004-799: The district of Werder. Until the completion of the main bridge over the Elbe, the Buckau Railway Bridge, a vertical lift bridge , in 1848 trains terminated at Magdeburg-Friedrichstadt station. By 1847, the trunk line had been largely converted to double track. 1870, the Berlin–Potsdam–Magdeburg Railway Company, together with the Magdeburg–Halberstadt Railway Company and the Magdeburg-Leipzig Railway Company bought

11135-712: The end of May completed the German conquest of the Balkans. Partisan warfare subsequently broke out against the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia , which continued until the end of the war. In the Middle East in May, Commonwealth forces quashed an uprising in Iraq which had been supported by German aircraft from bases within Vichy-controlled Syria . Between June and July, British-led forces invaded and occupied

11266-511: The end of the war. World War II changed the political alignment and social structure of the world, and it set the foundation of international relations for the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century. The United Nations was established to foster international cooperation and prevent conflicts, with the victorious great powers—China, France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the US—becoming

11397-613: The first section of its line in autumn 1838 (the section between Potsdam and Zehlendorf on 22 September and the main line to Berlin on 29 October). The Potsdamer Bahnhof opened in 1838 just outside the outside Potsdamer Tor (a gate in Berlin's tax wall). In 1837, the Berlin–Potsdam Railway Company acquired land for the station from the Unity of the Brethren in Berlin and Rixdorf for 12,400 thalers . Its Potsdam station

11528-575: The first step of what its government saw as the country's right to rule Asia , staged the Mukden incident as a pretext to invade Manchuria and establish the puppet state of Manchukuo . China appealed to the League of Nations to stop the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations after being condemned for its incursion into Manchuria. The two nations then fought several battles, in Shanghai , Rehe and Hebei , until

11659-864: The former Chinese imperial capital of Peking after instigating the Marco Polo Bridge incident , which culminated in the Japanese campaign to invade all of China. The Soviets quickly signed a non-aggression pact with China to lend materiel support, effectively ending China's prior cooperation with Germany . From September to November, the Japanese attacked Taiyuan , engaged the Kuomintang Army around Xinkou , and fought Communist forces in Pingxingguan . Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed his best army to defend Shanghai , but after three months of fighting, Shanghai fell. The Japanese continued to push Chinese forces back, capturing

11790-525: The invasion of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia ) by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy ( Regno d'Italia ), which was launched from Italian Somaliland and Eritrea . The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa ( Africa Orientale Italiana , or AOI); in addition it exposed the weakness of

11921-467: The lines were extended west to Magdeburg , to link up with routes extending across the future German state. The whole area around the Berlin terminus became a major focus for urban growth after its opening. Five major streets eventually converged here, most having started out as mere rough tracks through the Tiergarten park and adjoining fields. The first Potsdamer Bahnhof lasted until 1869, when it

12052-558: The main termini and open throughout its length since 15 November 1877; and the Wannsee Bahnhof on the west side, opened on 1 October 1891 for trains to Wannsee and the south western suburbs. Both these stations were located further south, with the north entries just north of the line Bernburger Straße . In 1901, separate tracks for the suburban line along the Anhalter Bahn to Lichterfelde-Ost were built together with

12183-603: The new quarter has become a commercial success, and a must-see for the majority of visitors to Berlin. Where the Potsdamer Bahnhof once stood is a long landscaped strip of land named after the Austrian actress Tilla Durieux (1880–1971), stretching for 450 m down to the Landwehrkanal. Despite appearances on the surface, long-distance trains have returned to the site, since the Berlin North–South mainline runs under

12314-502: The permanent members of its security council . The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers , setting the stage for the Cold War . In the wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia . Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery and expansion . World War II began in Europe on 1 September 1939 with

12445-589: The political European map with the defeat of the Central Powers —including Austria-Hungary , Germany , Bulgaria , and the Ottoman Empire —and the 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia , which led to the founding of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the victorious Allies of World War I , such as France, Belgium, Italy, Romania, and Greece, gained territory, and new nation-states were created out of

12576-599: The port of Tobruk . By late March 1941, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact ; however, the Yugoslav government was overthrown two days later by pro-British nationalists. Germany and Italy responded with simultaneous invasions of both Yugoslavia and Greece , commencing on 6 April 1941; both nations were forced to surrender within the month. The airborne invasion of the Greek island of Crete at

12707-544: The railway stations of Genthin and Güsen there were that the Jerichower Land . From Genthin lines branched to Sandau via Jerichow ; from Güsen lines branched to Ziesar and Jerichow. All of these branch lines were nationalised in 1949. They are all now closed for passenger traffic and except for short sections for freight traffic. In Burg bei Magdeburg , the Tack and Co shoe factory was established in 1883, which by

12838-521: The reduced importance of the station during the Communist period the temporary station was able to handle the load. In 1999 the new Potsdam Hauptbahnhof was opened with three platforms (one for the Berlin S-Bahn) and a variety of shops. In the course of the work the former Potsdam freight yard was demolished. Branching off from Lichterfelde West station a rail connection was opened in 1905, to

12969-722: The remainder of Czechoslovakia and subsequently split it into the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a pro-German client state , the Slovak Republic . Hitler also delivered an ultimatum to Lithuania on 20 March 1939, forcing the concession of the Klaipėda Region , formerly the German Memelland . Greatly alarmed and with Hitler making further demands on the Free City of Danzig ,

13100-524: The road bridges would have to be rebuilt to allow sufficient vertical clearances for electric operation. Other railway bridges would also need to be renewed to overcome aging or inadequate clearances. The section between the Zehlendorf and Düppel stations would have to be rebuilt. In addition, there is limited potential additional traffic, with long-distance traffic now mostly transferred to the Hanover–Berlin high-speed line and regional traffic able to use

13231-913: The route of the S-Bahn through the Berlin Nord-Süd Tunnel having been re-opened, as described above, crossed under the Berlin Wall between Anhalter Bahnhof and the Potsdamer Platz S-Bahn station , so the Potsdamer Platz S-Bahn station closed, like the other stations in East Berlin on the North-South line (apart from Friedrichstraße ). Trains that were now only for use in West Berlin travelled between Anhalter Bahnhof via Friedrichstraße without stopping, and then on to Humboldthain . The Potsdamer Platz S-Bahn station remained closed until 1 March 1992. The building of

13362-593: The route via Wannsee to the Berlin Stadtbahn . Since then, however, the premises have changed significantly, as both Berlin and Potsdam as well as Kleinmachnow/Teltow/Stahnsdorf are experiencing strong population growth, and the line would also effectively relieve the now overloaded Berlin Stadtbahn. In May 2022, the Brandenburg state government and the Berlin Senate announced in a joint declaration that

13493-462: The significant territorial, colonial, and financial losses imposed by the Treaty of Versailles . Under the treaty, Germany lost around 13 percent of its home territory and all its overseas possessions , while German annexation of other states was prohibited, reparations were imposed, and limits were placed on the size and capability of the country's armed forces . The German Empire was dissolved in

13624-698: The site of the Potsdamer Bahnhof, with the Potsdamer Platz station extending under some of the site of the Potsdamer Bahnhof. A major fire at the DB Museum (German State Railway Museum) in Nuremberg on the night of 17/18 October 2005 destroyed a historical shed and 25 locomotives including the Adler replica featured in the centenary celebrations for the Potsdamer Bahnhof in 1938. Deutsche Bahn have apparently ordered another operational replica in time for

13755-586: The site. However, the purpose of the M-Bahn disappeared with the fall of the Wall, and it was quickly dismantled and removed, since the trackbed at Gleisdreieck was an obstruction to re-unifying the ends of the U2 Underground line , which since re-instatement has also effectively replaced the M-Bahn. Today, a number of vast new developments can be seen around Potsdamer Platz. Despite some initial reservations,

13886-467: The so-called "banker trains " of the S-Bahn from the Wannsee line to change at Zehlendorf to the trunk line and then run without stopping until Potsdam station. In addition electric railcars operating on the long-distance lines continued as steam hauled suburban trains along the direct route to Potsdam without going through Wannsee. Düppel station was opened in 1939 for local traffic. On 22 December 1939

14017-498: The start or prelude to World War II. The exact date of the war's end also is not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 15 August 1945 ( V-J Day ), rather than with the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, which officially ended the war in Asia . A peace treaty between Japan and the Allies was signed in 1951. A 1990 treaty regarding Germany's future allowed

14148-470: The station would have required two or more kilometres of wall to surround an unused area of 8.5-hectares. The East German regime decided to leave the site of the Potsdamer Bahnhof outside of the wall, although it remained formally and legally part of the Soviet Sector until 21 December 1971, when East Germany were paid DM 31 million for this piece of land as part of a wider land swap . By contrast,

14279-593: The strong Maginot Line fortifications on the Franco-German border, Germany directed its attack at the neutral nations of Belgium , the Netherlands , and Luxembourg . The Germans carried out a flanking manoeuvre through the Ardennes region, which was mistakenly perceived by the Allies as an impenetrable natural barrier against armoured vehicles. By successfully implementing new Blitzkrieg tactics,

14410-414: The terminus stranded on the wrong side of it. All trains arriving in Berlin would have run into either of two vast new stations located on the Ringbahn to the north and south of the centre respectively, to be known as Nordbahnhof (North Station) and Südbahnhof (South Station), located at Wedding and Südkreuz . The intended use of the Potsdamer Bahnhof has not been documented. In any event, things took

14541-552: The trunk line is to be rebuilt as a regional railway line, which is also supported by Deutsche Bahn. World War II Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers . Nearly all the world's countries —including all

14672-569: The trunk line to Magdeburg. Following the opening of the Brandenburg City Railway in 1904 Brandenburg developed as an important railway junction. In particular, a steel works was built there in 1913, providing the line with a high volume of freight. In 1928 the Berlin S-Bahn was extended from Wannsee to Potsdam. On 15 May 1933, the long-distance trunk line between Berlin and Zehlendorf was also electrified. This allowed

14803-585: The two wars became World War II in 1941. Other proposed starting dates for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War   II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939. Others view the Spanish Civil War as

14934-513: The war were not fulfilled in the peace settlement. From 1922 to 1925, the Fascist movement led by Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy with a nationalist, totalitarian , and class collaborationist agenda that abolished representative democracy, repressed socialist, left-wing, and liberal forces, and pursued an aggressive expansionist foreign policy aimed at making Italy a world power, promising

15065-582: The war's end the Ringbahnhof received a reprieve of sorts, temporarily reopening on 6 August 1945 as terminus of the Wannseebahn trains, while the U-Bahn and S-Bahn received extensive repairs, beginning with pumping out thousands of tonnes of water. The Ringbahnhof closed for good on 27 July 1946 after some fragmentary train workings had resumed along the U-Bahn and North-South Tunnel on 2 June. The services were extended further in 1951. Potsdamer Bahnhof had

15196-475: The war. Germany annexed western Poland and occupied central Poland ; the Soviet Union annexed eastern Poland ; small shares of Polish territory were transferred to Lithuania and Slovakia . On 6 October, Hitler made a public peace overture to the United Kingdom and France but said that the future of Poland was to be determined exclusively by Germany and the Soviet Union. The proposal was rejected and Hitler ordered an immediate offensive against France, which

15327-404: The west halted the German advance for several days, but it was outflanked and encircled by the Wehrmacht . Remnants of the Polish army broke through to besieged Warsaw . On 17 September 1939, two days after signing a cease-fire with Japan , the Soviet Union invaded Poland under the supposed pretext that the Polish state had ceased to exist. On 27 September, the Warsaw garrison surrendered to

15458-483: The world order , and soon began a massive rearmament campaign . France, seeking to secure its alliance with Italy, allowed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia , which Italy desired as a colonial possession. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the Territory of the Saar Basin was legally reunited with Germany, and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, accelerated his rearmament programme, and introduced conscription. The United Kingdom, France and Italy formed

15589-402: The worst railway accident in German history occurred at Genthin station, with 278 people killed and another 453 people seriously injured. The night express D 180 (Berlin–Potsdam– Neunkirchen (Saar) ran at high speed, ignoring several signals, into an overcrowded D 10 express from Berlin to Cologne . Visibility that night was very poor due to heavy drizzle and fog, so the D 180 train ran through

15720-554: Was invaded by Germany. The United States started strategic planning to prepare for a full-scale offensive against Germany. At the end of September 1940, the Tripartite Pact formally united Japan, Italy, and Germany as the Axis powers . The Tripartite Pact stipulated that any country—with the exception of the Soviet Union—that attacked any Axis Power would be forced to go to war against all three. The Axis expanded in November 1940 when Hungary , Slovakia , and Romania joined. Romania and Hungary later made major contributions to

15851-418: Was aborted. Besides the Dresdner and Hamburger Bahnhöfe (which were not operating by the time of WWII) all of Berlin's other rail termini suffered a similar fate, leaving a network that remained fragmented and inconvenient for decades, exacerbated by the Division of Berlin and the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 (see below). The building of the Berlin Wall had a further impact. The now-derelict site of

15982-417: Was affected by the boycott of the S-Bahn by potential passengers from West Berlin after the building of the Berlin Wall and the establishment of parallel bus routes. Trains often ran without a single passenger, although a driver and ticket collector were still required. Nevertheless, on 20 December 1972, the East Germany Railways established the new station of Zehlendorf Süd between Zehlendorf and Düppel near

16113-410: Was opened on 7 August 1846, but the Havel crossing was not opened until 12 September 1846, completing the line from Berlin to Magdeburg. The line had to cross the Havel again near Werder to connect to Werder station on the shore. In order to reach the Elbe station from Magdeburg-Buckau the railway had to cross the Old Elbe, the Taube Elbe, the main Elbe rivers and the island between them containing

16244-403: Was postponed until the spring of 1940 due to bad weather. After the outbreak of war in Poland, Stalin threatened Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania with military invasion, forcing the three Baltic countries to sign pacts allowing the creation of Soviet military bases in these countries; in October 1939, significant Soviet military contingents were moved there. Finland refused to sign

16375-657: Was repulsed with heavy Italian casualties; the campaign ended within months with minor territorial changes. To assist Italy and prevent Britain from gaining a foothold, Germany prepared to invade the Balkans, which would threaten Romanian oil fields and strike against British dominance of the Mediterranean. In December 1940, British Empire forces began counter-offensives against Italian forces in Egypt and Italian East Africa . The offensives were successful; by early February 1941, Italy had lost control of eastern Libya, and large numbers of Italian troops had been taken prisoner. The Italian Navy also suffered significant defeats, with

16506-441: Was required to go through the bureaucracy of the League of Nations, which rendered it essentially toothless. The United States, concerned with events in Europe and Asia, passed the Neutrality Act in August of the same year. Hitler defied the Versailles and Locarno Treaties by remilitarising the Rhineland in March 1936, encountering little opposition due to the policy of appeasement . In October 1936, Germany and Italy formed

16637-412: Was southeast of the city on the other bank of the Havel river, where it also established a rail workshop. The first railway stations between Berlin and Potsdam were Zehlendorf (established in 1838), Schöneberg (1839) and Steglitz (1839). The Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway Company (German: Potsdam-Magdeburger Eisenbahngesellschaft ) was founded 1845, receiving royal assent on 17 August 1845. It extended

16768-549: Was superseded by a far grander structure in response to growing traffic, built by Julius Ludwig Quassowski (1824–1909) with five platforms, a trainshed roof that was 173m long and 36m wide, a booking hall with separate waiting rooms and facilities for four classes of ticket holders, and a separate entrance and reception area on the west side for visiting royalty. Opened on 30 August 1872, it eventually handled train services to and from Cologne , Paris , Frankfurt/Main , Strasbourg and Aix en Provence . By 1890 over 3 million people

16899-480: Was the deadliest conflict in history, resulting in 70 to 85 million deaths , more than half being civilians. Millions died in genocides , including the Holocaust of European Jews, as well as from massacres, starvation, and disease. Following the Allied powers' victory, Germany , Austria , Japan , and Korea were occupied, and war crimes tribunals were conducted against German and Japanese leaders . The causes of World War II included unresolved tensions in

17030-406: Was the first railway line in Prussia . In 1846 it was extended to Magdeburg . The Prussian Royal residence was located at Potsdam approximately 25 km west of Berlin, which at the beginning of the 19th century already had more than 200,000 inhabitants. Although railways were already being built in England, the sceptical attitude of the King Friedrich Wilhelm III delayed the establishment of

17161-406: Was very difficult. Directly west of the Potsdam station the line had to cross the Havel and Neustädter Bay, requiring several bridges. In the same section it had to cross the Potsdamer Stadtkanal (Potsdam City Canal, located in the modern Dortustraße), requiring another bridge. The track in this whole section was laid on an embankment. The line from Potsdam Kiewitt (west of Neustädter Bay) to Magdeburg

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