Sicily is a good case in point. Originating in Sicily in the middle of the 19th century, around the time Italy became unified, the mafia actually began as a way of life, a necessary evil in the protection against one unjust government after another. Mafia is allegedly an acronym for Morte Alle Francia Italia Anela, which means "Death to all French is Italy's cry." As legend has it, a small town became enraged when a French soldier raped a young girl of that village during the French occupation of the Italian peninsula. Tired of the French “justice”, the locals began to take things into their own hands and thus the roots of the mafia were born.
Sicily’s long history of violence and oppression, corrupt leaders and foreign rule nurtured an atmosphere of self-reliance and cooperation among the populace. First there were the Romans in 241 BC, then the Arabs in 826 AD, followed by the Norman conquest in 1000 AD. “The combination of the Arab notion of internal justice and the Norman judicial failure to balance justice across geographic space left significant scars on the Sicilian notion of government and judicial system.”
Then the Spanish came in 1300 AD, and with them came extreme censorship. None of the artistic, scientific, or agricultural advances of the Renaissance were allowed into Sicily, leaving them a backward rural society. The injustices only intensified when the Spanish embarked on the Inquisition. The need for internal justice grew, spurred on by the feudal system still in play in Sicily. Rather than go to whatever local government official was the current correct channel to go through, disputes and problems began to be taken care of in-house.
At this point, the family was the most important unit in Italy, and especially in Sicily, and this would become a chief component in the advent of the mafia. When Garibaldi finally united Italy, taking Sicily with it, the local power structure, which was mafia run, was simply incorporated into the new government. From this we see that from the beginning the hand of criminals will play an important role in politics in Sicily. This is part of where the idea that southern Italians are thugs and thieves comes from.
This is only one example of one of the regions of Italy, all of which had unique experiences and influences. Therefore it was without sentiment or conviction for a separate state that a movement for unification of the Italian peninsula nonetheless began and grew. Its growth factor based not on national pride or unity of language or culture, but growing discontent with foreign influence and occupation. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna freed Italy of French control following Napoleon’s collapse, and replaced it with an Austrian presence and influence. Regions began to rebel and the movement for unification grew. This strong nationalist movement, spearheaded by Giuseppe Garibaldi, an intellectual “strongly influenced by the new ideas circulating around eighteenth century Europe of society, statecraft, and theology,” eventually led to the ousting of Austria and the unification of the various states and regions. It was he who said, “It will be maccheroni, I swear to you, that will unite Italy“ upon liberating Naples in 1860.
By 1870, when Rome was taken from the Pope, the unification was complete. However, the regions remained autonomous and isolated and even the language was not officially named as Italian until after World War II. At its unification in 1861, Italian could only be spoken by 2.5 percent of the Italian people. In fact, there are hundreds of different dialects spoken in Italy today, some of which are mutually incomprehensible (Piemontese and Sicilian are distinct enough to be separate languages ). In addition to Italian and its numerous dialects, there are a number of minority languages actually protected by the Italian constitution.
Following Italy’s unification, Massimo d'Azeglio, a minister of Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, Italy’s first Prime Minister, is claimed to have said that “having created Italy, all that remained was to create Italians.” Italians classify themselves by region rather than as Italian, for example one is Romano or Napolese. One’s allegiance is first to one’s family and second to one’s region; the state is suspect. “Italians…look at government like Americans look at the IRS”; the general attitude being "fatta la legge, trovato l’inganno" – a law is passed, a way round it found.”
The Economic Factor
Northern Italy lies on the border of a number of more prosperous states than itself, and is therefore subject to more influence from these neighbors than southern Italy. As previously mentioned, Austria and France have been major influences in Italy. Additionally, northern Italy (Milan) is the southern border of Europe’s “vital axis” reaching up to Manchester, England. Southern Italy does not share this luxury. So while the north grew to become urbanized and business centric, the south lagged behind and came to be considered backward and rural. Once again the geography of the country is a major factor. Its natural barriers have historically made it difficult for innovation, technology and new ideas to diffuse to the southern regions.
The small town you refer to is actually Palermo. The incident took place at the main cathedral downtown Palermo in 1282 during what has come to be known as the Sicilian Vespers. The French occupiers were Angevines soldiers and colons residing in Sicily, the Baleares islands and in Morea/Creta as the Angevine Duchy was trying to create a French-Norman regional power into the Mediterranean after the Fourth Crusade.
