Warning: spoilers ahead for Star Wars: Obi-Wan #3!
All Star Wars fans know that Emperor Palpatine orchestrated the Clone Wars to take over the Republic, but they may not know that he utilized the Jedi's propensity for hope and optimism in order to achieve his goals.
Under normal circumstances, the Jedi are seen as a sort of police force across the galaxy. They are primarily peaceful monks that prefer inward meditation over violence. However, when the Republic was threatened and the Clone Wars began, the Jedi had to step into the role of protectors of the Senate and become generals and, in most cases, killers.
In Star Wars: Obi-Wan #3 by Christopher Cantwell and Alessandro Miracolo, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi reflects on this period in his life. He regrets the fact that the Jedi had to become generals in charge of an entire army. This goes against the Jedi code and was a terrible decision in retrospect, as it inherently distanced them from the light side. He recollects a mission that took place on Abrion Bridge which ultimately ended in a slaughter of many of his troops. But before that happened, Obi-Wan saw this mission as a means to achieve victory and bring the war to an end, delivering a rousing speech that takes on a grim irony once fans know how this battle - and in fact the entire war - ended.
In truth, this battle was only at the beginning of the conflict. There was still a lot more fighting to go, and the war would carry on for years. But since the Jedi always strive for peace, they wanted to view every situation through an optimistic lens. Obi-Wan truly believed that victory was always right around the corner, and so Obi-Wan justified the many missions he sent his soldiers on because he always thought that it would either be the last one or close to the last one. Even as the Jedi were meant to reject any love of conflict or dominion, they fought as hard as possible because they saw every battle as winnable, and every loss as one more step to overall victory. Ironically, had the Jedi been more pessimistic or less absolute in their roles, Palpatine's plans would likely have faltered.
Having studied the Jedi and being close to the Council for years, Palpatine knew full well that the Jedi were defined by the sense of hope that Obi-Wan constantly had. Because of that, he was able to leverage their optimism and keep the conflict going. As long as the Jedi believed that victory was in sight, they would continue on a path towards that end. If Palpatine had generated a scenario in which the Jedi thought the war would take years there is a chance they would have more strenuously pursued other options. Being the master strategist that he was, Emperor Palpatine was able to manipulate the Jedi's own outlook on life against them, leading to Star Wars' devastating Jedi Purge.