The Panic of 1873 is commonly associated with the start of the Long Depression after the Vienna exchange crash.
The crisis began with financial failures in Europe and spread to the United States. In Vienna, speculative investment and a building boom had created fragile conditions. The Vienna Stock Exchange crash of May 1873 damaged confidence, while the failure of American banking firm Jay Cooke & Company in September helped ignite a severe U.S. panic.
Railway speculation was central to the American downturn. Many railroads had expanded rapidly using borrowed money, and falling confidence made refinancing difficult. Bank failures, reduced investment, and falling prices followed.
Historians debate the exact timing and definition of the Long Depression, and some call it the Great Depression of the nineteenth century. It was not the same event as the 1930s Great Depression, though both featured prolonged economic hardship.