 The actual wording of the article was chosen by American diplomats Norman Davis and John Foster Dulles . Davies and Dulles produced a compromise between the Anglo @-@ French and American positions , wording Article 231 and 232 to reflect that Germany " should , morally , pay for all war costs , but , because it could not possibly afford this , would be asked only to pay for civilian damages . " Article 231 , in which Germany accepted the responsibility of Germany and its allies for the damages resulting from the First World War , therefore served as a legal basis for the articles following it within the reparations chapter , obliging Germany to pay compensation limited to civilian damages . Similar clauses , with slight modification in wording , were present in the peace treaties signed by the other members of the Central Powers . 
