Szerkesztő:Zazriel/war
| Castellammarese Háború | |||
| Dátum | 1929-Szeptember 10, 1931 | ||
| Helyszín | New York City | ||
| Casus belli | Murder of Masseria ally, Gaetano Reina. | ||
| Eredmény | Formation of the Five Families of New York City, Capo di tutti capi rank dropped, and formation of The Commission. | ||
| Harcoló felek | |||
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| Parancsnokok | |||
| Veszteségek | |||
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The Castellammarese War (1929 – 1931) was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salvatore Maranzano. It was so called because Maranzano was based in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily. Maranzano's faction won, and he briefly became capo di tutti capi ("boss of all bosses"), the undisputed leader of the entire mafia. He was soon assassinated by a faction of young upstarts led by Lucky Luciano, who established a power-sharing arrangement called "the Commission," a group of five mafia families of equal stature, to avoid such wars in the future.
Background
[szerkesztés]Mafia operations in the United States in the 1920s were controlled by Joe "The Boss" Masseria, whose faction consisted mainly of gangsters from Sicily, Naples, and the Calabria and Campania regions of Southern Italy. Masseria's faction included Alphonse Capone, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia, Vito Genovese, Alfred Mineo, Willie Moretti, Joe Adonis, and Frank Costello.
Powerful Sicilian mafioso Don Vito Cascio Ferro decided to make a bid for control of Mafia operations in the United States. From his base in Castellammare del Golfo, he sent Salvatore Maranzano to seize control. The Castellammarese faction in the U.S. included Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno, Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino, Joseph Profaci, and Joe Aiello.
Outwardly, the Castellammarese War was between the forces of Masseria and Maranzano. In reality, it was a generational conflict between the old guard Sicilian leadership, fondly known as the "Mustache Petes" for their long mustaches and old-world ways, and the "Young Turks", a younger and more diverse Italian group who wanted to work more with non-Italians. Tensions between the two factions were readily evident as far back as 1928, with one side frequently hijacking the other's alcohol trucks (alcohol production was then illegal in the United States due to Prohibition). However, both factions were fluid; many gangsters switched sides or killed their own allies during this war.
Hostilities begin
[szerkesztés]It is hard to tell when the warfare actually started. In February 1930, Masseria supposedly ordered the death of Gaspar Milazzo, a Castellemmarese native who was the president of Detroit's chapter of Unione Siciliane. Masseria was reportedly humiliated by Milazzo's refusal to support him in an Unione Siciliane dispute involving the Chicago Outfit and Capone.
However, according to most sourcesSablon:Who, the opening salvo in the war was fired within the Masseria faction. On February 26, Masseria ordered the murder of an ally, Gaetano Reina (whose daughter Carmela -- often referred to incorrectly as Mildred due to her nickname, Millie -- would marry Joe Valachi two years later). Masseria gave the job to a young Vito Genovese, who killed Reina with a shotgun. Masseria's intent was to protect his secret allies Tommy Gagliano, Tommy Lucchese, and Dominic "The Gap" Petrilli; however, his treachery would come back to haunt him, as the Reina family then threw its support to Maranzano.
Trading blows
[szerkesztés]On August 15, 1930, Castellammerese loyalists executed a key Masseria enforcer, Pietro Morello, at Morello's East Harlem office (a visitor, Giuseppe Pariano, was also killed). Two weeks later, Masseria suffered another blow. After Reina's murder, Masseria had appointed Joseph Pinzolo to take over the ice-distribution racket. However, on September 9, the Reina family shot and killed Pinzolo at a Times Square office rented by Lucchese. After these two murders, the Reina crew formally joined forces with the Castellammerese.
Masseria soon struck back. On October 23, 1930, Castellammerese ally Joe Aiello, president of the Chicago Unione Siciliane, was murdered in Chicago. At the time, it was widely assumed that Capone, another Castellammerese ally, had killed Aiello as part of a bitter power struggle in Chicago. However, Luciano later admitted that Masseria ordered the Aiello hit, which was performed by Masseria ally Alfred Mineo.
The tide turns
[szerkesztés]Following the murder of Aiello, the tide of war rapidly turned in favor of the Castellammarese. On November 5, 1930 Mineo and a key member of Masseria's gang, Steve Ferrigno, were murdered. At this point, members of Masseria's gang began defecting to Maranzano, rendering the original battle lines of the conflict (Castellammarese versus non-Castellammarese) meaningless. On February 3, 1931, another important Masseria lieutenant, Joseph Catania, was gunned down, dying two days later.
Given the worsened situation, Masseria allies Luciano and Genovese started communicating with Castellammarese leader Maranzano. The two men agreed to betray Masseria if Maranzano would end the war. On April 15, Masseria was killed while eating dinner at Nuova Villa Tammaro, a Coney Island restaurant in Brooklyn. The hitters were Anastasia, Genovese, Joe Adonis, and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel; Ciro "The Artichoke King" Terranova drove the getaway car, but legend has it that he was too shaken up to drive away and had to be shoved out of the driver's seat by Siegel.
The new Mafia structure
[szerkesztés]With the death of Masseria, the war was over. The winners, at least on paper, were Maranzano and the traditional Castellammarese faction. Now Maranzano took some significant actions to avoid more bloody and self-destructive gang wars. Many of these changes are still in effect today.
Except for New York City, the major urban areas in the Northeast and Midwest were organized into one family per city; due to the sheer size of organized crime in New York, it was organized into five separate families. The bosses of the Five Families of New York were to be Luciano (now the Genovese crime family), Profaci (now Colombo), Gagliano (now Lucchese), Bonanno, and Vincent Mangano (now Gambino). All, however, would owe allegance and tribute to Maranzano. The Castellammarese, such as Profaci and Bonanno, were divided among the New York crime families and ceased to exist as a separate faction. Maranzano set himself above, and apart from, all the U.S. crime families by creating an additional position for himself--capo di tutti capi or "boss of all bosses."
Each crime family was to be headed by a boss, who was assisted by an underboss (the third-ranking position of consigliere, was added somewhat later). Below the underboss, the family was divided into crews, each headed by a caporegime, or capo, and staffed by soldiers (members or, as they later became known, "wise guys"). The soldiers would often be assisted by associates, who were not yet members. Associates might also include non-Italians who worked with the family, and would include Meyer Lansky and Ben Siegel, to name just two.
Death of Maranzano
[szerkesztés]Unfortunately for Maranzano, his reign as capo di tutti capi was short-lived. On September 10, 1931, he was shot and stabbed to death in his Manhattan office by a team of Jewish triggermen (recruited by Lansky) which included Samuel "Red" Levine and Bo Weinberg.
In the end, both of the traditional factions in the New York Mafia lost the war. The real winners were the younger and more ruthless generation of mobsters, headed by Luciano. With their ascension to power, organized crime was poised to expand into a truly national and multi-ethnic combination.
Popular culture
[szerkesztés]- The movie 'Mobsters' (starring Christian Slater, Patrick Dempsey, and Lara Flynn Boyle) is a heavily fictionalized account of the Castellammarese War from the point of view of Luciano. Slater played Luciano, while 'Joe the Boss' Masseria was played by Anthony Quinn and Salvatore Maranzano (whose name was changed to Faranzano, presumably to avoid confusion with Masseria) was played by Michael Gambon.
- Events from the war (most notably the assassination of Maranzano) are included in Mario Puzo's novel 'The Godfather'.