The Castellammarese War is the name given to a bloody internal power struggle between two factions of Italian-American mafia figures that took place in 1930 and 1931. It culminated in the brief establishment of Salvatore Maranzano as capo di tutti capi, before he himself was killed and "the Commission" of five mafia families of equal stature was established. Logo of Sons of Italy, which is the largest Italian American fraternal organization in the United States. ... The Mafia, also referred to in Italian as Cosa Nostra (lit. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Salvatore Maranzano (1868-September 10, 1931) was an organized crime figure from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Mafia boss in the United States. ...

The name is derived from the fact that one side in the conflict consisted, at least at first, of immigrants sent by powerful Sicilian mafioso Don Vito Cascio Ferro from the vicinity of the town of Castellammare del Golfo in western Sicily, including Joseph Bonanno, Stefano Magaddino, Joseph Profaci, Joseph Aiello, and the faction's leader, Salvatore Maranzano. Their adversaries, who hailed both from elsewhere in Sicily and adjacent of regions of southern Italy such as Calabria and Campania (particularly Naples) were led by Joe "The Boss" Masseria and also included Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese, Willie Moretti, Joe Adonis, and Frank Costello. Sicilian disambiguates here; see also Sicilian language or Sicilian Defence. ... Categories: Possible copyright violations ... Castellammare del Golfo is a town in the Trapani Province of Sicily. ... Sicilian disambiguates here; see also Sicilian language or Sicilian Defence. ... Joseph Bonanno Joseph Bonanno (January 18, 1905 – May 11, 2002) was an American Mafioso who became the boss of one of the most prominent crime families in the world, the Bonanno crime family. ... Stefano Magaddino (October 10, 1891 – July 19, 1974) was an American mafia boss in the Chappaqua, New York area. ... Joe Profaci (1896 - 1962) was a New York Mafia boss who was the head of the Columbo Family for over three decades. ... Salvatore Maranzano (1868-September 10, 1931) was an organized crime figure from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Mafia boss in the United States. ... Sicilian disambiguates here; see also Sicilian language or Sicilian Defence. ... Calabria, formerly Brutium, is a region in southern Italy which occupies the toe of the Italian peninsula south of Naples. ... Campania is a region of Southern Italy, bordering on Lazio to the north-west, Molise to the north, Puglia to the north-east, Basilicata to the east, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ... Naples (Italian Napoli, Neapolitan Napule, from Greek Νέα Πόλις - Néa Pólis - meaning New City; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of Campania Region and the Province of Naples. ... Joe The Boss Masseria Giuseppe Joe The Boss Masseria (1879–April 15, 1931) was an early Mafia don in the United States. ... FBI mugshot of Capone, 1931 Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), popularly known as Al Scarface Capone, was an infamous American gangster in the 1920s and 1930s, although his business card reportedly described him as a used furniture dealer. ... Lucky Luciano. ... Albert Anastasia (February 26, 1902–October 25, 1957), also known as the Mad Hatter and Lord High Executioner, was a Mafia boss chiefly remembered for running the contract-killing syndicate known as Murder, Inc. ... Vito Genovese (November 2, 1897 - February 14, 1969) was a mafioso who rose to power in America during the Castellammarese War to later become leader of the Genovese crime family. ... Willie Moretti (1894-October 4, 1951) was an Italian-American gangster who, along with fellow mafiosi Lucky Luciano, Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese, Al Capone, Joe Adonis, and Frank Costello was working under Joe The Boss Masseria during the Castellammarese War. ... Joe Adonis Joe Adonis (22 November 1902 - 26 November 1972) was an Italian-American mobster who became one of the most powerful figures in U.S. organized crime during the mid-20th century. ... Frank Costello (January 21, 1891 - February 18, 1973) was an Italian-American gangster who was one of the most powerful and influential Mafia bosses in American history. ...

Tensions between the two factions were readily evident as far back as 1928, with one side frequently hijacking the other's alcohol trucks (alcohol was then illegal in the United States due to Prohibition); but ironically, the opening salvo in the war itself was fired not by one side against the other but rather within the anti-Castellammarese faction, when on February 26, 1930, Gaetano Reina (whose daughter Mildred would marry Joe Valachi two years later) was murdered by order of Masseria, so that Masseria could seize control from Reina of the bulk of New York City's ice distribution system (highly valued since most of the city's homes were not equipped with electric refrigerators in those days). This caused mobsters loyal to Reina, including future family bosses Thomas Gagliano and Thomas Lucchese, and also Valachi's mentor, Dominick Petrilli (known as "The Gap"), to turn against Masseria. 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Hijacking or highjacking is the forcible robbery from, or seizure of, a vehicle in transit. ... In general usage, alcohol (from Arabic al-kukhul الكحول, al meaning the and kukhul meaning spirit, the chemical) refers almost always to ethanol, also known as grain alcohol, and often to any beverage that contains ethanol (see alcoholic beverage). ... The examples and perspective in this article do not represent a worldwide view. ... February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Joseph Valachi Joseph Joe Cargo Valachi (September 22, 1903 - April 3, 1971) was the first Mafia member to publicly acknowledge the existence of the Mafia. ... The construction of the Empire State Building, 1930. ... ... Tommy Lucchese Gaetano Tommy Lucchese (December 1, 1899 - July 13, 1967) was the boss of the Lucchese crime family, one of the five Mafia families ruling the New York underground. ...

After Reina's murder, Masseria appointed Bonaventura Pinzolo to take over the ice-distribution racket - but on September 9, 1930 Pinzolo was shot to death by Reina's former subordinates at a Times Square office rented by Lucchese. Meanwhile, on August 15, 1930, Maranzano loyalists executed a key Masseria-allied mob enforcer, Pietro Morello, at Morello's East Harlem office (another man who had been visiting the office, Giuseppe Pariano, was also killed). After these two murders, which were carried out independently of one another, the Reina crew formally joined forces with Maranzano, whose side suffered a setback on October 23, 1930 when Aiello was murdered in Chicago, presumably on Capone's orders (in Chicago during this time separate - and mutually hostile - Sicilian and non-Sicilian factions existed within the Italian-American organized crime apparatus). September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Times Square Times Square is also the name of a station on the Detroit People Mover, a shopping mall in Hong Kong, and a 1980 movie. ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Spanish Harlem, also known as East Harlem or El Barrio, is a neighborhood in northeastern part of the borough of Manhattan, one of the largest predominantly Hispanic communities in New York City. ... October 23 is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 69 days remaining. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ... Logo of Sons of Italy, which is the largest Italian American fraternal organization in the United States. ...

Following the death of Aiello, however, the tide of the war rapidly turned in the Maranzano faction's favor (a key member of Masseria's gang, Stefano Ferrigno, was murdered, along with Alfred Mineo, on November 5, 1930) and members of Masseria's gang began to switch sides, rendering the original battle lines of the conflict (Castellammarese versus non-Castellammarese) meaningless. After another important Masseria lieutenant, Joseph Catania, was gunned down on February 3, 1931 (he died two days later), Luciano and Genovese agreed to betray Masseria if Maranzano would end the conflict thereafter - and on April 15, 1931, Masseria was killed while eating dinner at Nuova Villa Tammaro, a restaurant in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. November 5 is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 56 days remaining. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... April 15 is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (106th in leap years). ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Image of Coney Island (middle left of picture) taken by NASA. The peninsula at right is Rockaway, Queens. ... A map highlighting Brooklyn and the rest of New York City. ...

After Masseria's death, Maranzano laid out the organizational structure of the Mafia in the United States which has since remained essentially unchanged - the basic family unit headed by a boss, assisted by an underboss (the third-ranking position, that of consigliere, was added somewhat later) and divided into crews, each headed by a capo and staffed by soldiers, the latter often assisted by associates not yet members (or as they became known later, "wiseguys"). Except for New York City, major urban areas in the Northeast and Midwest were organized into one family per city; New York City was organized into five separate families (whose respective bosses, appointed by Maranzano, were Luciano, Profaci, Gagliano, Bonanno, and Vincent Mangano). It is also believed that the term "La Cosa Nostra" (meaning "this thing of ours") was coined during this period. The Mafia, also referred to in Italian as Cosa Nostra (lit. ... The construction of the Empire State Building, 1930. ... Northeast is the ordinal direction halfway between north and east. ... The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Cosa Nostra is the name by which members of the Mafia refer to their respective organizations and criminal dealings. ...

Maranzano set himself above, and apart from, the five families of New York City, appointing himself Capo di tutti capi, or "boss of all bosses"; however, his reign would prove to be shortlived. On September 10, 1931 Maranzano was shot and stabbed to death in his Manhattan office by Jewish gangsters hired by Luciano and Genovese, who believed Maranzano was plotting to have them killed. On the same day, approximately 40 other Cosa Nostra mobsters were also slain from New York to Chicago, almost all of them older gangsters not born in the United States and loyal to Maranzano (about 60 had died in the original conflict that culminated in Maranzano's victory over Masseria). The effective takeover of the Mafia by a younger, more ruthless generation of mobsters, headed by Lucky Luciano, was then complete. September 10 is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years). ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Manhattan Borough,highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ... The Mafia, also referred to in Italian as Cosa Nostra (lit. ...

See also

• History of the mafia