<P> Of the many provisions in the treaty , one of the most important and controversial required `` Germany ( to ) accept the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage '' during the war ( the other members of the Central Powers signed treaties containing similar articles ) . This article , Article 231 , later became known as the War Guilt clause . The treaty forced Germany to disarm , make substantial territorial concessions , and pay reparations to certain countries that had formed the Entente powers . In 1921 the total cost of these reparations was assessed at 132 billion marks ( then $31.4 billion or £ 6.6 billion , roughly equivalent to US $442 billion or UK £ 284 billion in 2018 ) . At the time economists , notably John Maynard Keynes ( a British delegate to the Paris Peace Conference ) , predicted that the treaty was too harsh -- a `` Carthaginian peace '' -- and said the reparations figure was excessive and counter-productive , views that , since then , have been the subject of ongoing debate by historians and economists from several countries . On the other hand , prominent figures on the Allied side such as French Marshal Ferdinand Foch criticized the treaty for treating Germany too leniently . </P>
<P> Of the many provisions in the treaty , one of the most important and controversial required `` Germany ( to ) accept the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage '' during the war ( the other members of the Central Powers signed treaties containing similar articles ) . This article , Article 231 , later became known as the War Guilt clause . The treaty forced Germany to disarm , make substantial territorial concessions , and pay reparations to certain countries that had formed the Entente powers . In 1921 the total cost of these reparations was assessed at 132 billion marks ( then $31.4 billion or £ 6.6 billion , roughly equivalent to US $442 billion or UK £ 284 billion in 2018 ) . At the time economists , notably John Maynard Keynes ( a British delegate to the Paris Peace Conference ) , predicted that the treaty was too harsh -- a `` Carthaginian peace '' -- and said the reparations figure was excessive and counter-productive , views that , since then , have been the subject of ongoing debate by historians and economists from several countries . On the other hand , prominent figures on the Allied side such as French Marshal Ferdinand Foch criticized the treaty for treating Germany too leniently . </P>
list one provision of the treaty that was imposed on germany
list one provision of the treaty that was imposed on germany
the War Guilt clause
the War Guilt clause