Mafia and Italy’s Unification (1861)

London – In 1861 Italy became an independent and unified country. After the unification of the Italian Reign under the sovereignty of the Savoia, the royal family from Piemonte in the north of Italy, the mafia managed to perfect itself. From 1861 the mafia, limited to the Sicilian land and social structure, expanded and became a means for social, political and economic growth.

Before 1861 Italy was divided in various smaller states, each with their own rules, rulers and/or invaders. After the unification, instead of slowly integrating the different political and social aspects of the major reigns in Italy, the law of the Piemontesi became the law of the land. Unfortunately, Sicily had a very different social structure, which had been a subculture to foreign rulers for many years. For this reason, and because Sicilian culture was hard to penetrate for outsiders, it was easier for the King to appoint mayors and city councils based on suggestions of those who had administered the ‘res publica’ until then, the Mafiosi. Corruption, favours and wars between criminal groups rose.

From the beginning of the Italian State, the Mafiosi were part of different public institutions. The Mafiosi quickly adapted to the new State law and, when it would benefit them or to maintain old privileges, became passionate supporters of the annexation to the Reign of Italy.

In the absence of a qualified class of State officials, a strong feeling of mistrust grew among Sicilians. In fact, the Piemontesi failed to positively integrate with the already established Sicilian social structure. In 1892 farmers, miners and workmen formed the ‘fasci dei lavoratori’ (bands of workers), who fought hard to be heard from the State. A year later the Italian Reign’s officials arrived and dismantled the protests, ‘proving’ to the Sicilian population that the Piemontesi were worse than the Bourbons.

The Mafia was present in every aspect of State. It administered towns with its ‘State officials’, it would manage the land and ‘taxes’ through the gabellotti and it would police it through the collaboration with the ‘militi a cavallo’, a state police force that would control the countryside. The Mafia became the most effective way for the State to maintain order and social equilibrium, and because of their failed intervention, it legitimised its activity to the eyes of the population. In addition, the Reign of Italy did not pay attention to the needs of the South, but focused on protectionist politics and industrial development in the North.

It is important to note that the mafia did originally start from the countryside, but it is necessary to point out that it is through its infiltration within the management of the cities, where it could trade and establish political and economic relationships, that it really ‘improved’. Under these conditions, the Sicilians started to prefer ‘simple justice’, forwarded by the mafia, to the State’s injustice.

Tania Miscebuzi

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Scritto da Tania Miscebuzi on 25 March 2015. Filed under Headlines, Latest news, Stop Mafia - Learn to fight Cosa Nostra. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry