The years of grace 1920-1930

The Great War has just ended, and the world is in a continuous socio-political and technological change. While Germany is facing an economic and social crisis, in which communists and Nazis are fighting for the country's power, America is facing the problem of alcohol.

What is the ban?

Well, the Prohibition was the law that forbade the production, consumption, or possession of alcohol in a particular country. America implemented this law in 1919, through amendment 18, and in 1920, through amendment 19, women received the right to vote. Illegalization of alcohol was a social problem that arose immediately after the Civil War. After the reunification of the country and the abolition of slavery in the South, in the U.S.A. there were groups advocating a ban on alcohol, which was portrayed as America's main social enemy. Thus, the Anti-Saloon League was born, which was mostly made up of women dissatisfied with seeing their men lose all day at the bar.

What really happened?

To your surprise, maybe this alcohol ban law didn't work at all. Although alcohol consumption decreased, the smuggling of liquids containing this substance increased exponentially. Many began to make their own alcohol in distilleries hidden in cellars and barns, warehouses, etc. Some who had connections abroad imported whiskey from Canada or other countries. The then government allocated $5 million to stop alcohol trafficking. The bars and narrow streets of major American cities were littered with liquor. In this context, the term "organized crime" also appeared.

What is the mafia?

The Mafia is an old story born in Italy. It is said that with the arrival of the first Italians in America, the mafia appeared in the New World. Until the ban comes, organized crime doesn't really exist. It was a time when they were doing well, collecting huge sums of money from this law meant to erase alcohol from America. At first, the police were not very efficient, the heads of the sections being bribed by various mobsters to turn a blind eye to any possible investigation. But all that changed when Roosevelt became president of the United States and J. Edgar Hoover, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The laws were tightened and the authorities became more vigilant. Important leaders of the mafia families were caught such as Alphonse Capone or "Scarface" and Lucky Luciano. Others were even electrocuted like Louis Buchalter.

The Prohibition or Noble Experiment ended in the U.S.A. in 1933, after 13 years of unsuccessful attempts to quench Americans' thirst for alcohol. Although the ban was over, the Mafia had not disappeared. Yes, many bosses have suffered some colossal losses from re-legalizing alcohol, but they know how to re-profile themselves, replacing liquor with narcotics and weapons.

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editorial: Matei Ilie

graphic design: Bianca Constantin,

Anastasia Chivu

translation: Irina Aldescu

DP (desktop publishing): Clara Pistol