Alok Singh

Italian R5B
History of the Sicilian Mafia
The Mafia, with Cosa Nostra as its largest branch, is a criminal organization that
sprung up in Sicily around the turn of the 20th century.
Italian unification came to Sicily around 1860. However, the ruling class set up by
Rome was made up entirely of wealthy landowners, most of whom were rather corrupt.
The majority of Sicilians deeply distrusted the Rome-based government, and ending up
organizing their own system. This quickly ended up as little more than a protection racket.
And thus the first well-known form of the Mafia was born.
The Mafia recognized the importance of political influence from the very
beginning. When the central government started redistributing land in Sicily, they were
able to organize in such a way that much of the land ended up theirs regardless. However,
this political power would backfire somewhat with the rise of Mussolini.
In 1924, Mussolini visited Sicily. He was received by the mayor/Mafia boss
Francesco Cuccia. At some point Cuccia expressed surprise at Mussolinis police escort
and whispered in his ear: "You are with me, you are under my protection. What do you
need all these cops for?" After Mussolini rejected Cuccia's offer of protection, Cuccia,
feeling he had been slighted, instructed the townsfolk to not attend Mussolinis speech
When Mussolini firmly established his power in January 1925, he appointed
Cesare Mori as the Prefect of Palermo in October 1925 and charged him to fight the
Mafia. Mori ended up using methods as brutal as those of the Mafia to fight it. Thousands
were killed or imprisoned without trial. Mori's campaign ended in June 1929 when

Mussolini recalled him to Rome. Although he did not fully succeed, he severely
weakened the Mafia.
The Mafia would see its revival after Italy was invaded by the Allies. In the chaos
of post-war, most of the governors appointed ending up being Mafia members or in its
control.
Palermo in particular saw a great deal of corruption, especially in the construction
industry. In fact, Sciascia points this out in The Day of the Owl. Vote buying became
especially common, with many candidates thought to have been elected almost solely by
the Mafias influence.
Harsh measures by various governments have since weakened the Mafia. Most of
the major bosses are incarcerated and subject to special controls under the article 41-bis
prison regime. However, in 2012 the Mafia was reported to have teamed up with the
Mexican cartels for drug trafficking, and its future influence remains to be seen.