The Germans thought it was unfair, as they convinced themselves and others that they had not lost. It was a shock that the conclusion of the reparations clause, under Article 231, required Germany to be legally required to pay and accept “the financial burden of putting Europe back together” (Alleria, 1996). The conditions of the treaty were given as an ultimatum to the German democratic parties, who were later called the November criminals for "stabbing Germany in the back", they had no choice but to accept the terms or face invasion. They had to accept proposals that “reduced the nation's power, stripped it of its prestige, attacked its transitions, and compromised its integrity. (Abel 1938). As a result, irritated German leaders, wanting to arouse international sympathy, deliberately lead to a mistranslation of Article 231, making it refer to the sole fault of Germany, as opposed to the joint fault of Germany and its allies, unleashing a rising wave of righteous indignation about the lie of war guilt and so, with the bitter debate that was opening, the article was transformed into a war guilt clause which strengthened the impression of an accusation of German morality