The British empire cycle (1600–present) maps precisely onto the archetype: Glorious Revolution (1688) established rule of law and parliamentary government → Industrial Revolution produced technology leadership → global empire with pound sterling as reserve currency → WWI and WWII produced extreme debt burden → Bretton Woods (1944) formally transferred reserve currency status to the USD, completing the transition. The entire cycle took ~300 years; the active decline phase (peak to reserve currency loss) took ~45 years (1900–1944).