<P> The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered a depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 until 1879, and even longer in some countries (France and Britain). In Britain, for example, it started two decades of stagnation known as the "Long Depression" that weakened the country's economic leadership . The Panic was known as the "Great Depression" until the events of the early 1930s set a new standard . </P> <P> The Panic of 1873 and the subsequent depression had several underlying causes, of which economic historians debate the relative importance . American post-Civil War inflation, rampant speculative investments (overwhelmingly in railroads), the demonetization of silver in Germany and the US, a large trade deficit, ripples from economic dislocation in Europe resulting from the Franco - Prussian War (1870--71), property losses in the Chicago (1871) and Boston (1872) fires, and other factors put a massive strain on bank reserves, which plummeted in New York City during September and October 1873 from US $50 million to $17 million . </P> <P> The first symptoms of the crisis were financial failures in the Austro - Hungarian capital, Vienna, which spread to most of Europe and North America by 1873 . </P>

What was the significance of the panic of 1873
find me the text answering this question