The first Mafia originated in Sicilia, Italy and from there it stretched all the way to America's Newark, New York and many more. And even though there isn't any exact timeline that can be considered the beginning of Mafia but some claim that their formation began back from the 1800s. However many data suggests that their reign goes way back to the middle ages.
Many people called the Mafia members gangsters which was not completely true. Unlike other gangs who went on and caused chaos like savages without any tactics, Mafia on the other hand was much more organized. No wonder they called it organized crime. They mostly staying low key but if it ever became necessary to light the streets up, they fought like a pack of wolves. They followed a hierarchy system that consisted of a leader widely known as "Don". Then came the "Consigliere" who was basically the right hand of the Don. Under the Boss(Don) and his right hand was the underboss who was the third most powerful Mafia member among the family. Yes they claimed themselves a family, "A crime family" to be more precise. Under him came the caporegime who lead a bunch of soldiers who did most of the dirty works. They worshiped their work as if it was their religion. They used to be very carefull when selecting new members and once a guy became one of them there was no going back. A member never retired, if he ever did or tried to run away from that life, his fellow member had to kill him. Moroever, From the views of many Mafia members, it was not a sin to killl and take a life for their work, the same way it is not a sin for a soldier to take a life while at war.
Their popularity popped wide out during late 1800s and lasted almost till mid 1900s. From 1920 speacially in America. Their powers kept on rising without any hint of falling down.They created empires stronger than the state itself. It has been reported that even the politicians back in the day were driven by these Mafia Lords. Murders, bribes and all the other felonies spreaded in America like butter scrapped over bread. Yet no one could do nothing. They bought the police, judges, politicians and what not. They owned it all.
However every empire in the history that had ever risen had also fallen. So did the Mafia. Over time their unity started to fade, loyalty turned into backstabing and the politicians finally seemed to take over the system and turn their back against them. Speacial forces of police were introduced to fight against them. One by One, they were arrested. Some Mafia member fled the country while others agreed to become informers for lesser time in jail. The police, they aimed from the roots by arresting infamously renowned Mafia members(Henry Hill for example). Step by Step all crime families were taken down and even though many still exist today, they have clearly lost their influence.
Their impact over time turned into topics of discussion, stories for teenagers and a whole new genre in Hollywood. With movies like "The Godfather" trilogy, "The Goodfellas", "Once upon a time in America", "Casino", "Raging Bull" while most of these movies being starred by actors like Robert Di Niro, Al Pacino, Marlon Brand, Joe Pesci and others, we can get a glimpse of what it was like when the Mafia lords were at their prime.
Wasiful Wafi
&
Md. Reazul Zannat
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