Which financial panic began with the Vienna Stock Exchange crash in May 1873?

The Panic of 1873 began with the Vienna Stock Exchange crash in May 1873.

The Vienna crash followed a period of intense speculation in railways, property, and other investments. When confidence broke, share prices plunged and failures spread through banks and businesses. The shock then reached Germany and the United States, where the collapse of the banking firm Jay Cooke & Company helped trigger a major financial crisis.

In the United States, the panic contributed to the failure of hundreds of banks and businesses. The resulting economic downturn is often linked to the Long Depression, a prolonged period of weak prices, slow growth, and high unemployment in several industrial countries.

The date and label can cause confusion because historians debate how long the Long Depression lasted and whether it was a single worldwide depression. The Panic of 1873 specifically refers to the financial crisis that began in that year, not the entire later period of economic weakness.