Fascist anti-mafia operation in Campania, 1926-1927

The anti-mafia operation undertaken in Sicily by the fledgling Fascist government had a powerful symbolic meaning in the construction of the ‘new state’. As a result, it left behind a wealth of sources, which are at the centre of a historiographical debate that dates back to the 1980s. In contrast, despite a similar level of publicity, the law and order operation launched in the same year of 1926 in Campania, in the province of Caserta, has largely been forgotten. This article presents the early results of research into the Fascist aggression of the mafia in Campania in 1926 and 1927, focusing on the city of Naples and the former province of Caserta. The analysis of judicial sources suggests that, unlike Sicily, the notion of ‘organised crime’ that underpinned the inquiries was largely denied in the final verdict.