That's largely a myth.

Very heavy reparations were demanded from France after the 1870-1871 war. Guess by who? Germany. France paid in full, quite quickly, despite the reparations being very large and the French economy being smaller than the German one in 1918.

Germany didn't really want to pay and it also fell into disarray due to other reasons, not related to the reparations.

Eh, it may be a myth that that the financial effect of the reparations led to the war, but what about their effects on public opinion? It doesn't seem surprising that heavy reparations might make it easier for populist leaders to win elections.

I know this is a sort of twisted morality, like not punishing a bully because he might beat you up, but as many have discovered, the moral high ground is not a shield.

> a myth

It is controversial, but not a myth:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_reparations