Nation-states consume the bodies of soldiers:
The Myth of Male Aggression
 (Paul Kahn)
Viewing the battlefield from a distance, it is not clear which side is the winner and which the loser. The nation-state feeds alike from both sides (Paul Kahn)

Italian dead The bodies of Italian soldiers dead on the battlefield, victims of a gas and flame attack during World War I.

Viewing the battlefield from a distance, it is not clear which side is the winner and which the loser. The nation-state feeds alike from both sides (Paul Kahn).

Russian deadBattlefield covered with the dead bodies of Russian soldiers (World War I).

From: Sacred Violence: Torture, Terror, and Sovereignty (2008)

It didn't really matter which side had won the battle and which side has lost: as long as the national-gods were fed with the blood of sacrificial victims.

From the gods' point of view, neither side won or lost. The god could not lose in any case.

Viewing the battlefield from a distance, it is not clear which side is the winner and which the loser. The nation-state feeds alike from both sides (Paul Kahn)

German deadGerman bodies after a battle in the Spring of 1915.

“Nation state fed alike from both sides.” It didn't matter which nation had won a particular battle and which nation had lost.

As long as there were dead bodies on the battlefield to feed the hungry nation-state.