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Origins
The Mafia is a network of organized-crime groups based in Italy and America, originating in Sicily in the 19th century. -
Sicily becomes part of Italy
When Sicily becomes a province of Italy, the Mafia are looked to for protection and order as the government looks to break up independent crime bands. In exchange, the government officials look the other way as the Mafia continue its protection shakedowns of landowners -
Fall of the Mafia
Prime Minister Benito Mussolini came to power in the 1920s and launched a crackdown on mobsters, whom he viewed as a threat to his Fascist regime. This heavily decreased the Mafia's power -
Mafia in America
The American Mafia originated in the 1920s due to their success in Italian-American neighborhoods during the Prohibition Era. It is a seperate entity form teh Sicilian Mafia, however they share traditions, code of conduct, and values. -
Rise of the Mafia
In the 1950s they began to grow again when mob-backed construction companies dominated in the post-World War II building boom. -
First Mafia War
The First Mafia War was the first high-profile case between Mafia clans in Italy. Mafia Boss Manzella organized a drug shipment to America organizing with two other clans. Manzella entrusted another boss to handle the heroin. The shipment was sent to America to Las Barberas. They claimed all of the heroin was not there and paid Manzella less. This started the First Mafia War betwen the Sicilian Mafia and Las Berberas when Las Berberas assasinated the two Bosses. -
Narcotics Trafficking
The Mafia continued to grow into the 1970s, becoming a major player in international narcotic trafficking -
Second Mafia War
The Second Mafia War started when Leggio, Boss of the Corleone clan and member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission, forged a coalition of mafia clans to take over Cosa Nostra and its narcotics trade. In the mean time, they bribed clans to join them, expelled members from the commission for hiding drug revenues, and murdered anothe rrival member of the Commission. This iniciated the Second Mafia War, where hundreds of enemy mafiosi and their relatives were murdered.
