Second Mafia War
| Second Mafia War | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Sicilian Mafia wars | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| Belligerents | ||||||||
| Corleonesi Mafia clan |
Inzerillo family Bontate family Badalamenti family | Government of Italy | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
|
Salvatore Riina Bernardo Provenzano Leoluca Bagarella |
Stefano Bontate Salvatore Inzerillo Rosario Riccobono Salvatore Scaglione |
Emanuele Basile Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa Giovanni Falcone Paolo Borsellino | ||||||
The Second Mafia War was a period of conflict involving the Sicilian Mafia from 1981 to 1983. Sometimes referred to as the Great Mafia War or the Mattanza (Italian for 'Slaughter'), it involved the entire Mafia and radically altered the power balance within the organization. In addition to the violence within the Mafia itself, there was violence against the state, including a campaign of deliberate assassinations of judges, prosecutors, detectives, politicians, activists and other ideological enemies. In turn, the war resulted in a major crackdown against the Mafia, helped by the pentiti, Mafiosi who collaborated with the authorities after losing so many friends and relatives to the fighting. In effect, the conflict helped end the secrecy of the Mafia.