But as he said, it wouldn't have been for themselves, but for the rest of the population
The idea that warmongers opted for war out of altruism for lower ranking men rather than personal gain, geopolitics, and power acquisition seems especially unlikely.
If they’re seeing a lot of disaffected young men without wives who commit crime and otherwise cause trouble, it might have led them to say “men these days have lost their way, we need a war to help them mature.”