How did Mussolini overcome the Mafia in Italy? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

TLDR: He scared them off to America

I'll be writing about the Cosa Nostra in Sicily, as it was the most well know and the most powerful crime syndicate at this time.

The Italian Mafia was extremely powerful the the early 20th century, especially in the underdeveloped, barely-industrialized south of the country.

A great story to start off with would be Mussolini's visit to Sicily in 1924. With him came a giant military force of men, battleships and submarines and was always accompanied by a police escort. Mussolini was furious when Sicily's Mafioso mayor Don Francesco Cuccia whispered to him "You are with me, you are under my protection. What do you need all these cops for?". This blatant undermining of Mussolini's power really, really pissed him off. The visit was quickly ended. This event demonstrated to Mussolini not only how little he was respected by the Mafia, but also how powerful it was in the area. Any dictator worth his salt would want this behaviour eradicated. Generally, this trip to Sicily is considered the beginning of Mussolini's war on the Mafia.

During the 1920s the Mafia's power was slowly declining. A large contributor to this was the complete prohibition of alcohol in America in 1920, which had brought so much business that many members moved to the States to start a new branch of the Italian Mafia there. Nevertheless, the Mafia was still in control of the island: most elections were rigged, most politicians were either members of the Mafia or affiliated with it in some way. To put a stop to this, Mussolini appointed Cesare Mori, nicknamed 'The Iron Prefect' for his relentless war against the Mafia. He had been working in Sicily since 1903, and served there during the Great War. During this period, around 40 thousand Sicilians evaded the draft which caused a massive increase of crime in the area. Here Mori first encountered the Mafia and gained experience in fighting it. Even though Mori stated that he didn't support Mussolini and his blackshirts at first, once Mussolini came to power Mori came to accept and even support the regime. This, along with his experience in the area, made him a perfect candidate.

After being appointed the prefect of Palermo in 1925, Mori quickly started arresting several high-profile members of the Mafia. Within two months he arrested over 500 men, within four years: 11 thousand. He basically had free reign: Mussolini told him "You have carte blanche. The authority of the state must absolutely be re-established in Sicily. If the laws still in force hinder you, this will be no problem. We will draw up new laws." Mori's plan was to "out-Mafia" the Mafia: he had to show that the state was the toughest gang and that the people no longer needed the Mafia for protection. He essentially led a gang war, except this one was supported by a utra-militeristic government.

One of Mori's most successful acts was his siege of Gangi in 1926. Gangi was (still is actually) a province that was the hub of criminal activity in Sicily. During the ten-day-long siege, the province was littered with armed policemen, roadblocks and armoured cars. This military force, combined with the freezing January weather kept the Mafiosi at home while the police cut all communications (telephone and telegraph wires) to the outside world and went house to house, searching for criminals. The police was acting above the law: suspects' cattle was slain, families were taken hostage and women got raped left and right. Some interesting interrogation methods included forcing people to drink castor oil or to eat live frogs.

On the tenth day, Mori arrived to Gangi himself as a 'liberator'. He had brought with him the full set: bands, banners all over the place, the classic balcony speech and even congratulations from the Duce himself. "Fascism has cured Italy of many of it's wounds. It will cauterise the sore of crime in Sicily - with a red hot iron if need be!" he wrote. Mori's final count after the ten days was 130 Mafiosi and 300 accomplices arrested. Mori repeated this siege tactic on other crime hubs with great success.

Another important tactic Mori had were show trials and public rallies against the Mafia. It was common for prisoners to not have the opportunity to defend themselves, especially if they were (or were suspected to be) a high-level member of the Mafia. These trials almost always led to convictions, which created fear of the state around the island. This led to more reports and accusations given to the police, which made Mori's hunt for criminals much easier.

In 1929, Mori was called back to Rome. The Mafia was declared to be defeated, news that was used a lot in propaganda (look up some posters, they're great). Murder and other crime rates were down significantly. At this point, 11 thousand people had been arrested. Many of these were likely innocent, but with virtually unlimited power and only one job, Mori made sure he stomped out all the criminals he could with little regard for innocents.

Even though the Mafia was still there, it's power was nothing in comparison to what they were a decade earlier. As an ex-journalist, Mussolini knew the power of mass media and made sure that Sicilian crime was rarely reported. Majority of the Mafiosi fled to America, both to run away from Mussolini and to join the quickly growing Italian Mafia in America, centred mostly in New York. This branch eventually split up into the Five Families, which are still operating today.