Start with Robespierre and work outward. Note the similar arc with today's "movements", the schisms, committees, councils, & pronouncements. They love all their little procedures & declarations. But finally, they eat their own. Their diktats eventually paint them into a corner -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilien_Robespierre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilien_Robespierre#Downfall
How many men have returned to the trades instead of "higher learning"?