Content of this type of lamp is not very conductive. You need to heat ends to create gas which poses less resistance, and then you need high-voltage kick so that it ionizes gas inside and makes it more conductive. Once lamp is operational, you don’t need such high voltage. There is simple analog circuit with mechanical starter that doesn’t know if lamp is ready to be started, it only repeatedly provides that high-voltage kick. So light goes trough multiple cycles until it successfully sustains current. It’s like dams, you need lot’s of water to destroy it, but then also small current flows trough. You need to divert the river if you want to rebuilt the dam.
See [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maniMjcvS7M) video showing you how process of starting fluorescent light works.
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