What Germany had to accept

Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany accepted blame for war damage, paid reparations, cut its forces and lost land.

Reparations were payments, or deliveries of goods, to make up for war damage. Article 231 of the treaty said Germany and its allies were responsible for the loss and damage caused by their aggression. This was the legal basis for reparations. Many Germans hated it as a verdict of guilt. But the clause did not say Germany alone caused every part of the war.

The treaty said Germany must pay reparations, but it did not set the total in June 1919. The final bill of 132 billion gold marks was fixed in 1921.

Germany's army was limited to 100,000 men. Conscription, compulsory military service, was banned, and so were tanks and an air force. The navy was also limited. The Rhineland stayed part of Germany, but Germany could not keep troops or build forts there. This is demilitarisation: banning military use of an area.

Germany lost Alsace-Lorraine to France, and land that became the Polish corridor. It lost all its overseas colonies. The Saar had a different deal: the League ran it for 15 years, and France got its coal mines. So keep the three apart. Land changing hands is different from a ban on troops, and different again from a change in who owns the mines.

Army

100,000 men; no conscription, tanks or air force.

Reparations

Final bill of 132 billion gold marks, set in 1921.

Land

Alsace-Lorraine to France; Polish corridor; all colonies lost.