Castellammarese War

Castellammarese War
DateFebruary 26, 1930 – April 15, 1931
Location
Caused byCrime syndicate control dispute
Resulted inMaranzano's faction's victory:
Parties
Masseria's faction
Maranzano's faction
Lead figures

The Castellammarese War (Italian pronunciation: [kaˌstɛllammaˈreːze, -eːse]) was a bloody power struggle for control of the American Mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano that took place in New York City, New York, from February 26, 1930, until April 15, 1931. The war was named after the Sicilian town of Castellammare del Golfo, the birthplace of Maranzano.[1]

Maranzano's faction prevailed in the conflict and divided New York's crime families into the Five Families; Maranzano declared himself capo di tutti i capi ("boss of all bosses"). However, Maranzano was murdered in September 1931 on orders of Lucky Luciano, who established a power-sharing arrangement called the Commission, a group of Mafia families of equal stature, to avoid such wars in the future.

  1. ^ Critchley, David (2008). The Origin of Organized Crime in America. New York: Routledge. p. 165. ISBN 978-0415990301.

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