Sicilian Mafia (1983: Doomsday)

The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra) is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid 19th century in Sicily. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct. Each group, known as a "family", "clan", or "cosca", claims sovereignty over a territory in which it operates its rackets – usually a town or village or a neighborhood (borgata) of a larger city. Their primary activity is protection and racketeering but they are also involved in arms trafficking, bid rigging, cigarette smuggling, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, fraud, loan sharking, money laundering, political corruption, and rum running.

Since Doomsday, the Sicilian Mafia has emerged as a major regional power through their newly established Sicilian Republic. Similar to their pre-Doomsday tendencies, the Mafia-ruled Sicilian Republic has come into conflict with many of its neighbors since its foundation. However, despite their new political position, the Mafia has yet to totally abandon its criminal past and continues to have a significant regional criminal presence.

Pre-Doomsday
The Mafia was one of the largest known groups of organized crime in the world. It emerged in the 1800s in Sicily. However, Sicilian emigration led to Mafia branches being established in many other countries, namely the United States, Canada, and Australia. Usually, the various mobs divide themselves into groups. The leader, or Don, was in charge of all Mafia activity in an area.

Doomsday
As with the rest of the world, Doomsday came suddenly for the mob. Once the bombs stopped falling, the Italian government quickly began to fracture and collapse, NATO and their extended allies were destroyed, and the Mediterrean quickly became a contested sea. Luckily, Sicily, the Mafia heartland, escaped the nuclear firestorm that had engulfed the rest of Italy. Nonetheless, faced with the potential for chaos in Sicily, the Mafia Dons assembled in Palermo to plan their response to the crisis.

Post- Doomsday
The crime syndicate lived on after Doomsday. Immediately after Doomsday, the Sicilian Dons assembled to respond to the situation as a unified force. Due to its powerful presence in Sicily, they were able to take advantage of the collapse of the Italian state and quickly gain control of Sicily through subversion, control of corrupt police and military units, and a popular pledge to maintain stability. A "Repubblica di famiglia" was declared to temporarily restore order to the island. Soon after, the Sicilian Dons quickly established the Sicilian Republic in December 1983, a new, independent state that, at the time, was one of the only functioning states in Southern Europe.

The new Sicilian Republic experienced many successes in its early years. Since the mob represented the only stable, organized entity in Sicily at the time, the remnants of the Italian military on Sicily and in surrounding waters. Though the quick change in loyalties was largely due to the donation of the necessary to provide for the military in its time of crisis, which has infamously been labelled the "General's Bailout" masterminded by (name of big mobster). By early 1985, the grace period the Sicilian population granted their new government, and the Mafia itself, ended. A series of small, but significant, political protests occured, which was followed by the attempted formation of rival political parties who wished to participate in the constitutionally republican governance of the state. However, the Dons, still as unwilling to compromise as before Doomsday, quickly crushed all political dissent. In addition, the lower ranks of the mob were opened up to incorporate many of the new, useful, and talented members of the former opposition, which helped decrease lingering support for their movements.