24. Mussolini Took on Italian Organized Crime by Speaking to it in the Only Language it Understood
In the 1920s, Prohibition in the United States produced a business boom for organized crime in America in general, and for the Italian-American mafia in particular. The 1920s were also when Benito Mussolini and his fascists came to power in Italy. No Italian government before had managed to keep the Sicilian mafia and the Camorra in check. Nor did any Italian government since. The Sicilian Mafia and Camorra had grown so powerful that they had become a parallel states in Italy.
The Fascists did not share power or tolerate challenges, however. To the misfortune of Italian organized crime, Mussolini was neither concerned with nor constrained by legalities. The dictator simply bypassed the criminal justice. He selected an underling named Cesare Mori, who became known as “The Iron Prefect” for his toughness, and set him loose. Italy’s army and Black Shirts rounded up Mafiosi en masse and killed any who resisted. For generations, Mafiosi strutting as scary tough guys had intimidated civilians. They discovered that soldiers were scarier and tougher.
