The monster became self-conscious of its size and intoxicated by the belief in its own omnipotence

What an eye witness description from Roger E. Money-Kyrle, cited in Barbara Ehrenreich’s (incredible) Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War, loc 290:

The people seemed gradually to lose their individuality and become fused into a not very intelligent but immensely powerful monster, which was not quite sane and therefore capable of anything. Moreover, it was an elementary tary monster … with no judgment and few, but very violent, passions.… [W]e heard for ten minutes about the growth of the Nazi Party, and how from small beginnings it had now become an overpowering force. The monster became self-conscious of its size and intoxicated by the belief in its own omnipotence.