Editing Mafia (section)

===Fascist suppression===
In 1925, [[Benito Mussolini]] initiated a campaign to destroy the Mafia and assert Fascist control over Sicilian life. The Mafia threatened and undermined his power in Sicily, and a successful campaign would strengthen him as the new leader, legitimising and empowering his rule.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-duggan119_35-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-duggan119-35 [35]]</sup> Not only would this be a great [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda propaganda] coup for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Fascism Fascism], but it would also provide an excuse to suppress his political opponents on the island, since many Sicilian politicians had Mafia links.

As prime minister, he visited Sicily in May 1924 and passed through [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piana_dei_Greci Piana dei Greci] where he was received by the mayor, Mafia boss [[Francesco Cuccia]]. At some point Cuccia expressed surprise at Mussolini’s 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 instructed the townsfolk to not attend Mussolini's speech. Mussolini felt humiliated and outraged.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-dickie152_36-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-dickie152-36 [36]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-duggan451_37-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-duggan451-37 [37]]</sup>

Cuccia’s careless remark has passed into history as the catalyst for Mussolini’s war on the Mafia. When Mussolini firmly established his power in January 1925, he appointed [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesare_Mori Cesare Mori] as the Prefect of Palermo in October 1925 and granted him special powers to fight the Mafia.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-dickie152_36-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-dickie152-36 [36]]</sup> Mori formed a small army of policemen, ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carabinieri carabinieri]'' and militiamen, which went from town to town, rounding up suspects. To force suspects to surrender, they would take their families hostage, sell off their property,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-38">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-38 [38]]</sup> or publicly slaughter their livestock.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-39">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-39 [39]]</sup> By 1928, over 11,000 suspects were arrested.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-40">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-40 [40]]</sup> Confessions were sometimes extracted through beatings and [[torture]]. Some mafiosi who had been on the losing end of Mafia feuds voluntarily cooperated with prosecutors,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lupo182_41-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-lupo182-41 [41]]</sup> perhaps as a way of obtaining protection and revenge. Charges of Mafia association were typically leveled at poor peasants and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabelloto gabellotti] (farm leaseholders), but were avoided when dealing with major landowners.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-42">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-42 [42]]</sup> Many were tried ''en masse''.<sup> </sup>More than 1,200 were convicted and imprisoned,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FiveFamilies_45-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-FiveFamilies-45 [45]]</sup> and many others were internally exiled without trial.

Mori's campaign ended in June 1929 when Mussolini recalled him to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome Rome]. Although he did not permanently crush the Mafia as the Fascist press proclaimed, his campaign was nonetheless very successful at suppressing it. As the Mafia informant [[Antonino Calderone]] reminisced: "The music changed. Mafiosi had a hard life. [...] After the war the mafia hardly existed anymore. The Sicilian Families had all been broken up."

Sicily's [[murder]] rate sharply declined.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-47">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-47 [47]]</sup> Landowners were able to raise the legal rents on their lands; sometimes as much as ten-thousandfold.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lupo182_41-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-lupo182-41 [41]]</sup> Many mafiosi fled to the United States. Among these were [[Carlo Gambino]] and [[Joseph Bonanno]], who would go on to become powerful Mafia bosses in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City New York City].