Which 1873 market panic began after the Vienna Stock Exchange crash in May?

The Vienna Stock Exchange crash in May 1873 helped begin the Panic of 1873.

A speculative boom had developed in Austria-Hungary, particularly in railway and property-related securities. When confidence broke at the Vienna Stock Exchange in May, prices fell sharply and financial institutions came under pressure. The shock spread through interconnected European markets.

The crisis reached the United States later in 1873 after the failure of the banking house Jay Cooke & Company. The New York Stock Exchange closed temporarily in September, an unusual emergency measure that reflected the severity of the financial strain. The resulting depression was international and lasted for years in many regions.

The Panic of 1873 is sometimes called the Long Depression, although historians use that label differently and debate its exact duration. It should also be distinguished from the American Panic of 1873’s immediate events: the Vienna crash was an important early international shock, while Jay Cooke’s failure helped transmit the crisis to the United States.