1920-Ku Klux Klan v Mafia...what happens?

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King Thomas

Banned
In the early 1920's the KKK was at it's evil height...up to two or three million members, de facto control of at least a few states, plenty of thugs.

WI it got into a major fight with the Mafia gangs of the time?

What could cause this, and who would end up winning?
 

Hapsburg

Banned
What he said. Mafia had more guys, better and more weaponry...etc.
Though, the mafia would lose some guys. Thing is, at this time, the Mafia isn't exactly at its full height, i.e it is not unified yet under the Cosa Nostra, and the most refined and best version of the Thompson (M1927) is not yet out.
 
with so much power via politics, the klan just bust up the mob with anti immigration laws

The mob had political connections too.

The US might look something like Weimar Germany. Instead of Nazis, Commies, and even Social Democrats duking it out in the streets, you'd get mafiosi and KKK types instead.
 
The mob had political connections too.

The US might look something like Weimar Germany. Instead of Nazis, Commies, and even Social Democrats duking it out in the streets, you'd get mafiosi and KKK types instead.

the klan had the south and midwest locked up. the mob, at best, got some enclaves in the northeast and chicago.

in the realm of public opinion, the people would favor the klan. the mob is basically a criminal gang with a profit motive. the klan is a terrorist organization that appeals to white supremacy and anti foreign loops in american history
 
the klan had the south and midwest locked up. the mob, at best, got some enclaves in the northeast and chicago.

in the realm of public opinion, the people would favor the klan. the mob is basically a criminal gang with a profit motive. the klan is a terrorist organization that appeals to white supremacy and anti foreign loops in american history

The mafia probably has a lot more $$, and that would give them influence beyond their numbers and even beyond their territory.

Furthermore, there's the matter of skills to be handled. If the Mob decided that a powerful Klansman needed to die, could they get him on his home turf? If some Klansmen decided to kill a prominent mobster, could they get him on his home turf?
 
The mafia probably has a lot more $$, and that would give them influence beyond their numbers and even beyond their territory.

Furthermore, there's the matter of skills to be handled. If the Mob decided that a powerful Klansman needed to die, could they get him on his home turf? If some Klansmen decided to kill a prominent mobster, could they get him on his home turf?

well, if there is a war what is prize? as said, both sides seem happy with their own sphere of influence. and both seemed peppered iwth greed, hate, and most improtant incompentence
 
Here's a major problem!!

Unlike the Mafia, the Ku Klux Klan allegedly had people in the White House who were sympathetic to their cause:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notable_Ku_Klux_Klan_members_in_national_politics

Among them, allegedly you had Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, Harry Turman, Robert Byrd, Warren G. Harding, and Chief Justice Edward Douglass White as Klan members and/or supporters. Considering the Mafia, which was limited in power to only urban areas with large Italian-American and Jewish-American communities, the Mafia would be easily crushed...
 

NapoleonXIV

Banned
Al Capone, at least, was not the just a mob boss but a genius at PR and local politics, (to this day he is still well-regarded by many in Cicero). He was not typical of Mafiosa but he was not unusual in the higher echelons. The Klan were mostly backwoods farmers, even at the higher levels, who made up in violence and hate what they lacked in intelligence and sophistication.

Additionally the Mafia was known and recognized as a criminal organization (though an approved one because its main business was flouting a law most people disapproved of anyway.) The Klan, at least ostensibly, sold themselves as moralistic reformers.

The most powerful Klan was brought down by a sex scandal. The Mafia would have little problem exploiting this weakness. They would set up the Klan members with hookers and alcohol and then send in their personal cops and reporters.
 
@Napoleon: Cicero? You mean Chicago?

The Klan has more men, many of them armed (this is the USA, after all), but of course the mafia could buy some more men.

And yes, that would make a kind of Weimar US. Very interesting, that's probably the most realistic scenario I can think of.
 

NapoleonXIV

Banned
@Napoleon: Cicero? You mean Chicago?

The Klan has more men, many of them armed (this is the USA, after all), but of course the mafia could buy some more men.

And yes, that would make a kind of Weimar US. Very interesting, that's probably the most realistic scenario I can think of.

Cicero is a suburb or borough or part of Chicago. I always heard that Al Capone was either from there or headquartered there and was liked by many there.
 

Hendryk

Banned
Thing is, at this time, the Mafia isn't exactly at its full height, i.e it is not unified yet under the Cosa Nostra, and the most refined and best version of the Thompson (M1927) is not yet out.
From what I've read, the Thompson SMG didn't feature that prominently in the arsenals of 1920s organized crime; we tend to get that impression because it's a cinematic weapon and Hollywood loves gunfights that involve big badass full-automatic firearms. In fact the sawed-off shotgun was used much more frequently by mobsters; testimonies insist on the fact that it was a devastating weapon at short range.

Now, I wonder. The KKK wasn't just a terrorist movement, but a quasi-political organization. WI the Mafia decided that the best way to fight it was to move up from bribing officials to actually setting up a quasi-political organization of its own? One way to get there might be through mob-controlled labor unions.
 

HueyLong

Banned
Thing is, there is no united mafia, and the KKK would have far more manpower against the "dagos".

The KKK did fight with Jewish gangsters, in Chicago, I do believe, and they busted up rumrunners in Indiana and Kentucky.
 
Thing is, there is no united mafia, and the KKK would have far more manpower against the "dagos".

It's not like the '20s era Klan is united either.

It's likely you'd see certain factions ally with each other, out of necessity. Mob bosses seeking Klan support against each other, etc.
 
Hey, Bondoc, Truman really was a member of the Klan. It was the only way that he could get into poltics. I even thing it was mentioned in the movie where Gary Sinise played Truman.
 
It's not like the '20s era Klan is united either.

It's likely you'd see certain factions ally with each other, out of necessity. Mob bosses seeking Klan support against each other, etc.

The Klan was pretty much united. For one, they didn't have dozens of feuding families all at each others throats. And they had people elected that were open supporters of them; can anybody think of a Congressman who got elected by showing off his Mob credentials?

BTW, where would most of the fighting take place? I mean, I don't know any places that where hotbeds of both KKK and Mafia support.
 
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