Which European stock exchange suffered a major crash on May 9, 1873, beginning the Long Depression?

The Vienna Stock Exchange suffered a major crash on May 9, 1873, beginning the Long Depression.

The date became known as “Black Friday” in Austria. Speculation in shares and property had expanded after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the rapid growth of credit. Many investors bought securities at inflated prices, expecting continued economic expansion and rising real-estate values.

When confidence broke, share prices collapsed and numerous banks and companies failed. The panic spread through interconnected European financial markets and soon affected the United States, where the failure of Jay Cooke & Company in September 1873 helped trigger an American banking crisis.

The resulting downturn is often called the Long Depression. Its timing and severity varied by country, and historians debate exactly when it ended. It should not be confused with the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Vienna crash was an important early shock in a broader international financial crisis.