137:, then prime minister, visited Sicily and also passed through Piana dei Greci where he was received by the mayor Don Ciccio. At some point Cuccia expressed surprise at Mussolini's police escort and whispered in his ear: "You are with me, you are under my protection. What do you need all these cops for?" To Cuccia the large police escort indicated a lack of respect. When Mussolini declined to release the substantial police force, Cuccia had the central town square emptied when
86:, the struggle of the landless peasants intensified. Sicilian peasants returning from the front found a disastrous economic situation. During their military service, their fields had been abandoned and overgrown, and inflation reduced them to starvation. The only people, who had become rich by taking advantage of this situation, were the landowners and their leaseholders such as Cuccia. Social tension began to rise across the country, known as the
176:. A few weeks before the massacre, Cuccia and others had asked landowners for money to "put an end to the communists once and for all." They made clear that they were ready to go beyond the traditional acts of Mafia violence that had been used against the socialist peasant movement before the rise of fascism in the early 1920s when six socialist militants had been killed in Piana.
96:
from the Mafia and the prefect and the police, the
Socialist Party left the municipal council and even had to close the local section. The town was then placed under a commissioner until the new elections on April 9, 1922, when the Liberal Democrats list led by Francesco Cuccia won by a landslide. The list was "composed of three-fifths of people belonging to the mafia."
149:
as the
Prefect of Palermo, with the order to eradicate the Mafia at any price. In 1927, when reporting on the progress of the drive against the Mafia in Sicily to the Chamber of Deputies, Mussolini referred specifically to Cuccia as "that unspeakable mayor who found ways of getting himself portrayed
107:
publicly defended the Mafia administration of Cuccia several times, considering it "the most suitable for the peaceful development of the best qualities of its people," able to open "a new period in our history." In a speech from the balcony of City Hall, he praised Cuccia to have had the merit and
95:
In Piana dei Greci the socialists won the elections of
October 1920, gaining all seats in the municipal council and electing the mayor. During the parliamentary elections of May 1921 socialist candidates could not campaign or go to the polls due to serious intimidation by the Mafia. Under pressure
73:
In June 1914, the socialists won the municipal elections with a landslide. During the election campaign, the socialist militants
Mariano Barbato (a cousin of Nicola Barbato) and Giorgio Pecoraro had been killed. Cuccia was suspected to be behind the slayings, but was not charged until ten years
153:
Cuccia and his brother had been arrested on July 2, 1924, on charges of murdering the socialist militants
Mariano Barbato and Giorgio Pecoraro in May 1914. However, on May 1, 1928, the Court acquitted the Cuccia brothers for lack of evidence. However, he was sentenced to 11 years and 8 months
141:
made his speech. Mussolini found himself addressing a group of some 20 village idiots, beggars, bootblacks and lottery ticket sellers picked out as an audience by Don Ciccio. He felt humiliated and outraged.
58:. Cuccia was one of the Mafia bosses of Piana dei Greci, a town known for its strong peasant movement demanding land reform. He sided with the landowners against the socialist-inspired movement headed by
281:
299:
145:
Cuccia's careless remark and subsequent insult has passed into history as the catalyst for
Mussolini's war on the Mafia. When Mussolini firmly established his power in January 1925, he appointed
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42:
as a Mafia potentate with an inflamed sense of his own importance. The
Sicilian writer Giuseppe Passarello called him "Cuccia il sanguinario" (Cuccia the bloodthirsty).
70:(Red Piana). In the late nineteenth, early twentieth century, the struggle for the rights and freedoms of peasants in Sicily was also a struggle against the Mafia.
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in full regalia in the local town hall, and, in return, was awarded the prestigious
Knights Cross of the Crown of Italy (
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38:’s war on the Mafia, after humiliating him while visiting Piana dei Greci in 1924. He was described by the writer
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Cuccia has also been mentioned as one of the mafiosi behind the
Portella della Ginestra massacre during a
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562:
Five
Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires
119:). According to legend, Cuccia was able to manoeuvre the king into baptizing his child.
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649:
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27:
528:
Mafia Allies. The True Story of America’s Secret Alliance with the Mob in World War II
172:
manifestation on May 1, 1947, when 11 people were killed and 33 wounded by the bandit
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the courage "to have done away with that red flag of socialism from our community."
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34:(now Piana degli Albanesi). He is best known as the Mafia boss who triggered
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154:
imprisonment for criminal conspiracy and was released from prison in 1937.
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La strage e i depistaggi: Il castello d’ombre su Portella della Ginestra
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In 1957, at the age of 81, Ciccio Cuccia died at his home in Palermo.
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at every solemn occasion" and who was now safely behind bars.
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descent, Ciccio was a distant cousin to prominent financier
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in 1892–1893. Since those days, the town was known as
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The Force of Destiny: A History of Italy Since 1796
513:The Honoured Society: The Sicilian Mafia Observed
133:Two years later, in May 1924, the Fascist leader
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1316:Sicilian brigandage and rebels (20th century)
590:
220:Cuccia il sanguinario usato e messo in galera
8:
464:Cosa Nostra: a history of the Sicilian Mafia
362:
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297:Il "biennio rosso" nella zona del corleonese
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129:Sicilian mafia during the Mussolini regime
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117:Croce di Cavalieri della Corona d’Italia
1051:Grand Hotel et des Palmes Mafia meeting
432:, Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning,
188:
123:Triggering Mussolini's war on the Mafia
1035:List of Sicilian Mafia members by city
1210:List of victims of the Sicilian Mafia
7:
1410:Italian people of Arbëreshë descent
481:, New Haven: Yale University Press
111:In June that year, Cuccia received
50:Born in Rome to wealthy parents of
1405:Italian people of Albanian descent
14:
1311:Italian brigandage (19th century)
1190:Direzione Investigativa Antimafia
530:, Saint Paul (MN): Zenith Press,
1420:People from Piana degli Albanesi
1092:Portella della Ginestra massacre
564:, New York: Thomas Dunne Books,
467:, New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
164:Portella della Ginestra massacre
158:Portella della Ginestra massacre
122:
413:, La Sicilia, November 22, 2009
1122:Via Federico Pipitone massacre
1030:List of Sicilian Mafia members
451:, Vicenza: Neri Pozza Editore
429:Organized Crime, Ninth Edition
284:, La Sicilia, February 7, 2010
262:, La Sicilia, January 17, 2010
260:Il coraggio di Mariano Barbato
1:
497:, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
282:Intransigente contro la mafia
46:Mafia boss in Piana dei Greci
22:(1876 – 1957), also known as
1264:Article 41-bis prison regime
1180:Italian Antimafia Commission
1175:Sangiorgi report (1898-1900)
543:Petrotta, Francesco (2010).
491:Duggan, Christopher (2008).
477:Duggan, Christopher (1989).
411:Portella, fu strage di mafia
306:, Dialogos, October 12, 2010
92:(Red Biennium – 1919–1920).
62:, one of the leaders of the
1226:1960s Sicilian Mafia trials
1441:
1425:Mayors of places in Sicily
1152:Via dei Georgofili bombing
626:Interprovincial Commission
426:Abadinsky, Howard (2010),
161:
126:
113:King Vittorio Emanuele III
1354:
1110:Circonvallazione massacre
1364:Organized crime in Italy
388:La strage e i depistaggi
222:, Giuseppe Passarello,
78:Fighting the socialists
1237:Pizza Connection Trial
856:Caltanissetta Province
445:Caruso, Alfio (2014).
30:and one-time mayor of
26:, was a member of the
1158:Via Palestro massacre
955:San Mauro Castelverde
479:Fascism and the Mafia
461:Dickie, John (2004),
1359:American Cosa Nostra
1274:Banda della Magliana
1269:Banda della Comasina
1254:American Cosa Nostra
1146:Via D'Amelio bombing
1104:Viale Lazio massacre
869:Vallelunga Pratameno
846:Campobello di Licata
841:Palma di Montechiaro
526:Newark, Tim (2007).
368:The Force of Destiny
200:The Honoured Society
1116:Via Carini massacre
226:, February 16, 2003
1369:Mafia bibliography
1331:Sacra Corona Unita
1134:Pizzolungo bombing
831:Sambuca di Sicilia
793:Agrigento Province
393:2011-09-27 at the
302:2012-03-23 at the
174:Salvatore Giuliano
1377:
1376:
1128:Train 904 bombing
1018:
1017:
950:Belmonte Mezzagno
570:978-0-312-30094-4
553:978-88-230-1396-4
547:, Rome: Ediesse,
516:, London: Eland,
457:978-88-6559-241-0
438:978-0-495-59966-1
1432:
1415:Sicilian mafiosi
1400:Arbëreshë people
1195:State-Mafia Pact
1098:Ciaculli bombing
1073:Second Mafia War
983:Mazara del Vallo
965:Trapani Province
917:Palermo Province
806:Santa Elisabetta
789:
769:Cuntrera-Caruana
613:Chain of command
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135:Benito Mussolini
36:Benito Mussolini
20:Francesco Cuccia
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1067:First Mafia War
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811:Porto Empedocle
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688:Codes and terms
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395:Wayback Machine
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162:Main article:
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127:Main article:
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68:Piana la rossa
60:Nicola Barbato
47:
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28:Sicilian Mafia
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536:0-7603-2457-3
533:
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522:0-907871-48-8
519:
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510:(1964/2003).
509:
508:Lewis, Norman
506:
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503:0-618-35367-4
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487:0-300-04372-4
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473:1-4039-6696-6
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320:Five Families
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224:La Repubblica
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56:Enrico Cuccia
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1299:Unione Corse
1085:and bombings
561:
558:Raab, Selwyn
544:
541:(in Italian)
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443:(in Italian)
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49:
40:Norman Lewis
23:
19:
18:
16:Mafia member
1395:1957 deaths
1390:1876 births
1346:Vendicatori
1326:'Ndrangheta
1284:Beati Paoli
1239:(1985–1986)
1233:(1986–1992)
1075:(1981–1984)
1069:(1962–1963)
907:Pagliarelli
897:Porta Nuova
662:Consigliere
658:(Sottocapo)
448:I Siciliani
349:Cosa Nostra
331:Abadinsky,
238:I Siciliani
202:, pp. 59-60
147:Cesare Mori
84:World War I
1384:Categories
1279:Basilischi
1231:Maxi Trial
1200:Addiopizzo
925:Camporeale
902:Brancaccio
784:Mandamenti
739:Corleonesi
701:Mandamento
671:Caporegime
667:Capodecina
620:Commission
385:Petrotta,
183:References
170:Labour Day
24:Don Ciccio
1168:Antimafia
1083:Massacres
1004:Mistretta
879:Mussomeli
821:Cianciana
816:Canicattì
801:Agrigento
764:Inzerillo
679:(Soldier)
656:Underboss
372:p. 451-52
101:Arbëreshë
52:Arbëreshë
1044:Meetings
1010:Siracusa
940:Bagheria
930:Corleone
774:Graviano
744:Galatolo
696:Made man
622:(Cupola)
560:(2005).
391:Archived
366:Duggan,
347:Dickie,
335:, p. 138
300:Archived
235:Caruso,
1306:Garduña
1289:Camorra
1247:Related
1205:Pentito
1184:members
1023:Members
978:Trapani
889:Palermo
721:Pizzino
677:Soldato
421:Sources
398:, p. 97
322:, p. 23
198:Lewis,
139:Il Duce
74:later.
1336:Stidda
1219:Trials
1160:(1993)
1154:(1993)
1148:(1992)
1142:(1992)
1136:(1985)
1130:(1984)
1124:(1983)
1118:(1982)
1112:(1982)
1106:(1969)
1100:(1963)
1094:(1947)
988:Alcamo
945:Trabia
935:Cinisi
826:Ribera
759:Motisi
754:Minore
706:OmertĂ
636:Family
568:
551:
534:
520:
501:
485:
471:
455:
436:
353:p. 152
318:Raab,
82:After
997:Other
874:Riesi
749:Greco
731:Clans
716:Pizzo
711:Faida
640:Cosca
103:poet
1060:Wars
1008:Sud
864:Gela
646:Boss
566:ISBN
549:ISBN
532:ISBN
518:ISBN
499:ISBN
483:ISBN
469:ISBN
453:ISBN
434:ISBN
99:The
1386::
370:,
359:^
351:,
340:^
311:^
267:^
245:^
207:^
191:^
1186:)
1182:(
673:)
669:(
652:)
648:(
642:)
638:(
598:e
591:t
584:v
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