Hardly anyone today heard of the mafia. In the mid-nineteenth century, this word entered the dictionary of the Italian language. It is known that in 1866 the authorities knew about the mafia, or at least what was called this word. The British consul in Silica reported to his homeland that he was constantly witnessing the activities of the mafia, which maintains ties with criminals and owns large amounts of money …
The word "mafia" most likely has Arabic roots and comes from the word: mu`afah. It has many meanings, but not one of them comes close to that phenomenon, which soon began to be called the "mafia." But there is another hypothesis of the spread of the word in Italy. Allegedly, this happened during the uprisings of 1282. In Sicily, there was public unrest. They went down in history as "Sicilian Vespers." During the protests, one cry was born, which was quickly picked up by the protesters, it sounded like this: “Death of France! Take a breath, Italy! ” If you make an abbreviation in Italian from the first letters of the words, it will sound like “MAFIA”.
The first mafia organization in Italy
Determining the origins of this phenomenon is much more difficult than the etymology of a word. Many historians who studied the mafia insist that the first organization was created in the seventeenth century. In those days, secret communities that were created to fight the Holy Roman Empire were popular. Others believe that the sources of the mafia as a mass phenomenon should be sought from the throne of the Bourbons. Because it was they who used the services of unreliable persons and robbers, who did not require a large reward for their work, with the aim of patrolling parts of the city that were distinguished by increased criminal activity. The reason that the criminal elements in the service of the government were content with little and did not have large salaries was because they took bribes so that the king would not know about the violation of laws.
Or maybe the first were the Gabelloti?
The third, but no less popular hypothesis of the appearance of the mafia indicates the organization "Gabelloti", which acted as a kind of mediator between the peasants and the people who owned the land. Gabelloti representatives were also required to collect tribute. History is silent about how people were selected for this organization. But all those who were in the bosom of "Gabelloti" were dishonest. Soon they created a separate caste with their laws and codes. The structure was unofficial, but it had tremendous influence in Italian society.
None of the theories described above has been proven. But each is built on one common element - the huge distance between the Sicilians and the authorities, which they considered imposed, unjust and alien, and, of course, they wanted to remove.
How did the mafia come about?
In those days, the Sicilian peasant had absolutely no rights. He felt humiliated in his own state. Most ordinary people worked in latifundia - enterprises owned by large feudal lords. Work on latifundia was a hard and low-paid physical labor.
Dissatisfaction with power spun like a spiral that once had to shoot. And so it happened: the authorities ceased to cope with their duties. And the people chose a new government. Such positions as amici (friend) and uomini d`onore (people of honor), which became local judges and kings, became popular.
Honest Thugs
We find an interesting fact about the Italian mafia with Bridon Patrick in his book Travel to Sicily and Malta, which was written in 1773. The author writes: “The bandits have become the most respected people on the whole island. They had noble and even romantic goals. These bandits had their own code of honor, and those who violated it instantly died. They were faithful and unprincipled. To kill a man for a Sicilian bandit does not mean anything if a man had guilt for his soul. ”
The words spoken by Patrick are relevant to this day. However, not everyone knows that once Italy almost got rid of the mafia once and for all. This happened during the reign of Mussolini. The head of the police fought the mafia with her own weapons. The authorities did not know mercy. And just like the mafiosi, she did not hesitate before firing.
World War II and the heyday of the mafia
Perhaps, if World War II had not started, we would not have talked about such a thing as the mafia. But ironically, the landing of Americans in Sicily equalized. For Americans, the mafia has become the only source of information about the location and strength of Mussolini’s troops. For the mafiosi themselves, cooperation with the Americans almost guaranteed freedom of action on the island after the end of the war.
We read about such arguments in the book “The Great Godfather” by Vito Bruschini: “The mafia had the support of the allies, which is why it was in her hands that the distribution of humanitarian aid - various food products was. For example, in Palermo, food was distributed on the assumption that five hundred thousand people live there. But, since the majority of the population moved to a calmer rural area near the city, the mafia had every opportunity to withdraw the humanitarian aid remaining after distribution to the black market. ”
Help the mafia in the war
Since the mafia also practiced various sabotage against the government in peacetime, with the outbreak of war, it actively continued such activities. History knows at least one documented case of sabotage, when the Goering tank brigade, which was stationed on the basis of the Nazis, refueled with water and oil. As a result, the engines of the tanks burned out, and the cars instead of the front ended up in the workshops.
Post-war time
After the allies occupied the island, the influence of the mafia only increased. “Intelligent criminals” were often appointed to the military government. In order not to be unfounded, we will cite statistics: out of 66 towns, 62 were appointed as the main ones from the underworld. The heyday of the mafia was associated with the investment of previously laundered money in the business and their increase in connection with the sale of drugs.
Individual style of the Italian mafia
Each member of the mafia understood that his activities were fraught with risk, so he made sure that his family did not live in the event of the death of the “breadwinner”.
In society, mafiosi are very severely punished for contacts with police officers, and even more so for cooperation. A person was not accepted into the circle of the mafia if he had a relative from the police. And for appearing in public places with a representative of the rule of law they could have killed. Interestingly, both alcoholism and drug addiction were not welcomed in the family. Despite this, many mafiosi were addicted to both, the temptation was very great.
The Italian mafia is very punctual. Being late is considered bad form and disrespect for colleagues. During meetings with enemies it is forbidden to kill anyone. They say about the Italian mafia that even if families are at war with each other, they do not seek cruel reprisals against competitors and often sign world ones.
The laws of the Italian mafia
Another law honored by the Italian mafia is the family above all else, no lies among its own. If a lie was answered in response to a question, it was believed that the person had betrayed the family. The rule, of course, is not without meaning, because it made cooperation within the mafia safer. But not all adhered to it. And where a lot of money revolved, betrayal was almost an obligatory attribute of relations.
Only the boss of the Italian mafia could allow members of his group (family) to rob, kill or loot. Visits to bars without urgent need were not welcome. After all, a drunken mafioso could blurt out too much about the family.
Vendetta: blood feud for family
Vendetta - revenge for breaking family rules or betrayal. Each group had its own ritual, some of them are striking in their cruelty. She did not show up in torture or terrible murder weapons; as a rule, the victim was killed quickly. But after death, they could do anything with the body of the offender. And, as a rule, they did.
It is curious that information about the laws of the mafia as a whole became public only in 2007, when the father of the Italian mafia Salvatore La Piccola fell into the hands of the police. Among the financial documents of the boss “Cosa Nostra” and found the charter of the family.
Italian Mafia: names and surnames that went down in history
How not to recall Charles Luciano, who is involved in drug trafficking and a network of brothels? Or, for example, Frank Costello, nicknamed the "Prime Minister"? The Italian surnames of the mafia are known all over the world. Especially after Hollywood filmed several stories about gangsters at once. It is unknown what is shown on the big screens and what fiction is unknown, but thanks to the films these days, it was possible to almost romanticize the image of the Italian mafioso. By the way, the Italian mafia likes to give nicknames to all its members. Some choose them for themselves. But the nickname is always associated with the history or character traits of the mafia.
The names of the Italian mafia are, as a rule, the bosses who dominated the whole family, that is, they have achieved the greatest success in this difficult work. Most of the gangsters who did the rough work are unknown to the story. The Italian mafia exists to this day, although most Italians turn a blind eye to this. Fighting her now, when the twenty-first century is in the yard, is practically meaningless. Sometimes the police still manage to catch the "big fish" on a hook, but most mafiosi die a natural death in old age or die from a pistol in their youth.
The new "star" among the mafiosi
Under the cover of the unknown, the Italian mafia acts. Interesting facts about her are very rare, because Italian law enforcement agencies are already having problems in order to learn at least something about the actions of the mafia. Sometimes they are lucky, and unexpected, or even sensational, information becomes public.
Despite the fact that most people, having heard the words “Italian mafia”, recall the famous Cosa Nostra or, for example, Camorre, the most influential and cruel clan is “Ndrangenta”. Back in the fifties, the group went beyond its region, but until recently remained in the shadow of its larger competitors. How did it happen that in the hands of "Ndrangenti" was 80% of the drug traffic of the entire European Union - the gangster’s colleagues themselves are surprised. The Italian mafia "Ndrangenta" has an annual income of 53 billion.
There is a myth very popular among gangsters: “Ndrangenta” has aristocratic roots. Allegedly, the syndicate was founded by Spanish knights, who had the goal of avenging the honor of their sister. Legend has it that the knights punished the guilty, and they themselves went to prison for 30 years. In it, they spent 29 years 11 months and 29 days. One of the knights, being free, and founded the mafia. Some continue the narrative with the assertion that the other two brothers are the bosses of Cosa Nostra and Camorra. Everyone understands that this is just a legend, but it is a symbol of the fact that the Italian mafia appreciates and recognizes the connection between families and adheres to the rules.
