Which stock exchange crash in Vienna helped mark the beginning of the Long Depression in 1873?

The Vienna Stock Exchange crash helped mark the beginning of the Long Depression in 1873.

On May 9, 1873, panic struck Vienna's stock exchange after a period of rapid speculation and expansion. The collapse followed the late-19th-century investment boom associated with railways, construction, and finance. Many securities had been purchased at prices that depended on continuing optimism.

The panic spread internationally, especially after the failure of the Austrian bank Kredit-Anstalt in the crisis's broader chain of financial distress. In the United States, the failure of Jay Cooke & Company in September 1873 contributed to the Panic of 1873 and a long contraction.

Historians use the term Long Depression for the extended period of weak prices and economic instability that followed, although its exact dates and severity varied by country. The Vienna crash is therefore an important early example of financial contagion crossing national borders.