The 1873 financial crisis that helped trigger a long depression in Europe and North America was the Panic of 1873.
The panic began in Vienna in May 1873 when the Vienna Stock Exchange crashed. Financial stress then spread to other markets, including Germany and the United States. In the United States, the failure of the investment firm Jay Cooke & Company in September led to a suspension of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
The crisis followed a period of rapid railway construction, industrial expansion, and speculative investment. When expected profits failed to appear, heavily indebted companies and banks became vulnerable. The resulting downturn brought bankruptcies, unemployment, falling prices, and weaker investment.
Historians debate the exact boundaries and causes of the “Long Depression,” and the term can mean different things in different countries. The Panic of 1873 is nevertheless widely treated as the financial shock that initiated the period.