Who Would Emerge as the Mafia's Boss of Bosses? "The Castellammarese War ... was short-lived, but left the sidewalks awash with blood and the city littered with bodies of the fallen.".

• Author: Sobel, Stuart
• Position: USA YESTERDAY

THE Castellammarese War was carnage in the streets that developed from a power struggle for complete domination of the Italian-American Mafia by the Sicilian Mafia. It was shortlived, but left the sidewalks awash with blood and the city littered with bodies of the fallen.

The battleground was New York from February 1930 to April 1931 between two capos, "Joe the Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano. This battle resulted in the breakup of the traditional Sicilian domination. The ending of the war created the formation of a New Mafia Order. The end of the struggle was as a result of the guidance in the wings by one Italian and one Jew: "Lucky" Luciano and Meyer Lansky.

Luciano was the chief lieutenant to Masseria and then to Maranzano. The wise council from both Luciano and Lansky came from their selection of special men who were members of their own private club, Murder, Inc. The following is how it all transpired.

It all began when Masseria was sent from Castellammare del Golfo by Sicilian boss of all bosses Don Vito Ferro to look after the American extension of the Mafia. He was sent to the Lower East Side of New York. At the time, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was kicking the Mafia out of Italy. He feared that they were a distraction to his beloved fascism. Mussolini was after total control of Italy and did not want to deal with a third-party Mafia competition. He would cut off the head of the snake before it grew to unmanageable proportions.

Aside from having to pay a percentage and take orders from the old-time Mustache Pete men from Sicily, one of the major contentions was the old Mafia did not want to deal with drugs. They thought that drugs would not cross out of the bad neighborhoods where they were sold.

Masseria himself was not a popular capo. He was an inefficient organizer. Some killings he ordered were strictly for personal reasons. He dictated with a heavy hand to these new strong Sicilian-Americans, and they resented this. The American Mafia capos were losing patience, money, and time just keeping their respective gangs in a holding pattern. It became a power struggle.

In Masseria's position as capo di tutti capi ("boss of bosses"), he controlled the Mafia throughout the entire U.S. Luciano was Masseria's chief lieutenant.

The catalyst of the war occurred when a second don (Maranzano) was sent over from Sicily and wanted the take over the top position. He brought with him Joseph Bonanno and Joseph Profaci. These two were Maranzano loyalists who eventually would become capos in their own right. Battles raged between Masseria and Maranzano. There had to be "law and order," or the American Mafia never would survive. Also, there had to be "respect"--not just to be...