The First World War as Ritual Sacrifice: Feeding gods called nations Aztec Ritual Sacrifice Removing the heart of a captured warrior and  feeding it to the Sun God. Without this nourishment, the Aztecs believed, the sun would cease to revolve around the Earth. Western Ritual Sacrifice: Battle of the Somme British soldiers about to run into German machine gun fire--to feed gods called nations with the bodies of soldiers. Without blood sacrifice, Western people believe, nations would cease to exist. Aztec Sacrifice. Post-Conquest Nahua Painting, c. 1560. (Priests hold excavated heart to sun atop teocalli) c. 1650 ref 1500 Aztecs Spanish Conquest. Carnage: British soldiers go over the top into waiting German machine guns and artillery shells.