Nation-states consume the bodies of soldiers:
From: Sacred Violence: Torture, Terror, and Sovereignty, Paul W. 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 W. 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 W. Kahn).

Russian deadBattlefield covered with the dead bodies of Russian soldiers (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 W. Kahn)

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