The Panic of 1873 began a long international depression after the Vienna Stock Exchange crash.
A speculative boom in railways, construction, and real estate preceded the panic. On May 9, 1873, the Vienna Stock Exchange crashed, helping trigger a financial crisis that spread through Europe and later affected the United States. In America, the failure of the banking firm Jay Cooke & Company in September 1873 caused bank runs and contributed to the closure of the New York Stock Exchange for several days.
The downturn that followed is often called the Long Depression. Industrial production, investment, prices, and employment weakened in many countries, although the severity and timing differed by region. The period also involved deflation and intense competition among businesses.
The Panic of 1873 is not the same event as the U.S. Panic of 1893, though both caused banking failures and severe economic distress. It is also sometimes reduced to an American railroad crisis, but its initial financial shock in Vienna and its international consequences are central to its history.