The failure of Germany's first republic after World War I has aroused several decades of concentrated study. Synthesizing much of that study, this historical dictionary will enhance an understanding of the Weimar Republic. It includes entries on individuals as diverse as Bertolt Brecht, Adolf Hitler, the physicist Lise Meitner, and the film director Georg W. Pabst. There are also entries defining such events as the Beerhall Putsch and the French occupation of the Ruhr; various organizations and institutions, such as the Frankfurt School; the complex array of political parties; and treaties and agreements, such as the Locarno Treaties of 1925 and the 1929 Young Plan.

Arranged as an A to Z reference source for the study of modern German history, the dictionary gives substance to cultural terms (such as Dada), to film and music, and to concepts, such as Anti-Semitism and Justice, deemed vital to an understanding of the period. All entries conclude with bibliographic references.