Search results
The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (Italian: [ˈkɔːza ˈnɔstra, ˈkɔːsa -], Sicilian: [ˈkɔːsa ˈnɔʂː (ɽ)a]; "our thing" [3]), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century.
- The Mafia’s Sicilian Roots
- The Mafia on The Rise in Italy
- The Mafia in The 20th Century and Beyond
For centuries, Sicily, an island in the Mediterranean Sea between North Africa and the Italian mainland, was ruled by a long line of foreign invaders, including the Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, French and Spanish. The residents of this small island formed groups to protect themselves from the often-hostile occupying forces, as well as from other reg...
In 1861, Sicily became a province of recently unified Italy. However, chaos and crime reigned across the island as the fledgling Italian government tried to establish itself. In the 1870s, Roman officials even asked Sicilian Mafia clans to help them by going after dangerous, independent criminal bands; in exchange, officials would look the other wa...
The Mafia’s influence in Sicily grew until the 1920s, when Prime Minister Benito Mussolini came to power and launched a brutal crackdown on mobsters, who he viewed as a threat to his Fascist regime. However, in the 1950s, the Mafia rose again when mob-backed construction companies dominated the post-World War IIbuilding boom in Sicily. Over the nex...
- 4 min
Oct 1, 2024 · The first time was in 1925, when Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini appointed Cesare Mori, a retired member of the police force, as the new prefect of Palermo. From October 1925 to June 1929, Mori’s forces terrorized the towns in which the Mafia held sway.
However, the organized Mafia in Sicily began with the unification of Italy in 1861. Since then, the Mafia has changed its form many times. New leaders have risen to replace the old, each more brutal than the last.
Most scholars agree that the Mafia emerged in Sicily in the 19th century during Italy’s unification, but others suggest the organization arose during the late Middle Ages.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
It is a common belief that the Mafia began in Sicily, primarily through the first major rulers and power-hungry groups that occupied the island. The only thing that we know for sure is the records of their existence dating into the early 19th century.
People also ask
What is the history of the Sicilian Mafia?
Where did the Mafia come from?
Is there a Mafia in Sicily?
Was the Mafia a product of Sicily's modernization?
When did the Mafia start in Palermo?
When did Mafia start in Italy?
In John Dickie’s telling, the Mafia is a product of Sicily’s modernization, not the ancient past. It appeared in the 1860s, in Sicily’s richest farming region, as a direct consequence of Italian unification. The overthrow of the Naples monarchy in 1860 disrupted the traditional governance of Sicily.
