World War I reparations were compensation imposed during the
Paris Peace Conference upon the
Central Powers following their defeat in the
First World War by the
Allied and Associate Powers. Each of the defeated powers was required to make payments in either cash or kind. Because of the financial situation
Austria,
Hungary, and
Turkey found themselves in after the war, few to no reparations were paid and the requirements for reparations were cancelled.
Bulgaria, having paid only a fraction of what was required, saw her reparation figure reduced and then cancelled. Historians have recognized the
German requirement to pay reparations as the "chief battleground of the post-war era" and "the focus of the power struggle between
France and Germany over whether the Versailles Treaty was to be enforced or revised".