[3] Texcocan nobleman Ixtlilxochitl gives the "fullest early statement concerning the origin as well as the initial rationale" of the flower war.

[4] From 1450 to 1454, the Aztecs had suffered from crop failure and severe drought; this led to famine and many deaths in the central Mexican highlands.

[4] Ixtlilxochitl reports that the flower war began "as a response" to the famine: "the priests ... of Mexico [Tenochtitlan] said that the gods were angry at the empire, and that to placate them it was necessary to sacrifice many men, and that this had to be done regularly.

"[4] Thus, Tenochtitlan (the Aztec capital), Texcoco, Tlaxcala, Cholula, and Huejotzingo agreed to engage in flower war for the purpose of obtaining human sacrifices for the gods.

[8] In typical warfare, the Aztecs used atlatl darts, stones, and other ranged weapons to weaken enemy forces from afar.

[8] The use of these kinds of weapons allowed the Aztecs to display their individual combat ability, which was an important part of the flower war.

[15] By extending this devotion to their gods so that the Aztec could make Tenochtitlan the strong capital that they were promised it to be, they are said to have taken many people to be sacrificed in their name, as the Aztec believed that as part of balancing life in the cosmos, they had to give the Earth blood, similarly to their belief that the gods gave their blood to create humans.

[15] Historians have thought that flower wars were fought for purposes including combat training and capturing humans for religious sacrifice.

[2][6] Historians note evidence of the sacrifice motive: one of Cortez's captains, Andres de Tapia, once asked Moctezuma II why the stronger Aztec Empire had not yet conquered the nearby state of Tlaxcala outright.

[17] The emperor responded by saying that although they could have if they had wanted to, the Aztecs had not done so because war with Tlaxcala was a convenient way of gathering sacrifices and training their own soldiers.

[2] For example, Hassig states that for the Aztecs, "flower wars were an efficient means of continuing a conflict that was too costly to conclude immediately.

[11] With equal numbers, the enemy would fight the Aztecs on the open field, where individual soldiers had a greater chance of showing off their martial ability.