Italian Mafia Essay Example

The Mafia was first developed in Sicily in feudal times to protect the estates of landlords who were out of town. The word Mafia, derived from the Sicilian word, Mafioso, means family. Today, Mafia is a name which describes a loose association of criminal groups. These groups can be bound together by blood, oath or sworn secrecy. Many people had considered the Sicilian Mafia as the most ruthless mobsters of the twentieth century. By the 1900‘s, the Mafia had become known as a network of criminal thugs that dominated the Sicilian countryside. Members of the Mafia were bound by Omerta. Omerta, an Italian word, stands for a strict code of conduct. The code include avoiding all contact or cooperation with authorities. In the beginning the Mafia had no centralized organization. It consisted of many small groups. Each of these groups was considered as a district. Each of these districts, had its own form of government. The Mafia had gained their strong-arm by using scare tactics amongst the people. Using these terrorist methods against peasants who could vote, the Mafia used this upper hand in placing themselves into political offices. They would achieve this in several communities. Using this political power in their advantage, the Mafia was able to gain influence with police authorities and the ability to obtain legal access to weapons.

Benito Mussolini was the premier-dictator of Italy from 1920 to early 1940‘s. He was the founder and leader of Italian Fascism. Mussolini, along with his Facets government, was able to successfully suppress the Mafia during the time of World War II. However, after the war ended in 1945, the Mafia emerged and ruled once again. Over the years to come, the Sicilian Mafia was not only able to gain control Sicily, but all of Italy as well. In the second half of the 1900‘s, America had the largest number of immigrants moving to the United States ever known. There is a recorded three million Irish, four million