Reparations, a levy on a defeated country forcing it to pay some of the war costs of the winning countries. Reparations were levied on the Central Powers after World War I to compensate the Allies for some of their war costs. They were meant to replace war indemnities which had been levied after earlier wars as a punitive measure as well as to compensate for economic losses. After World War II the Allies levied reparations principally on Germany, Italy, Japan, and Finland.