Posted on 04/23/2021 12:12:09 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The unification of Italy in the 19th century was at first greeted with enthusiasm, but this soon evaporated among the Sicilians. Namely, the island was poor and many Sicilians felt the central government neglected them just as badly as foreign rulers had, and things got even worse when Mussolini’s Fascists rose to power in the 1930s. Italy’s entry into World War II on the Axis side caused even more resentment, and a Committee for the Independence of Sicily was founded in April 1942.
When the American-led Allied invasion of the island occurred in July 1943, the island became the scene of heavy fighting. Tens of thousands of people were killed and there was much material damage. In addition, Mussolini’s previous crackdown on the Mafia was exploited by the Americans, and the Mafia provided them with military intelligence. However, this also led to the Mafia re-establishing its influence after the end of World War II.
The generally poor treatment afforded to the island by Italy as well as the fear of a communist takeover prompted a group of enterprising Sicilians named the Sicilian Independence Movement and led by the prominent bandit (or folk hero, depending on who you ask) Salvatore Giuliano, to petition U.S. president Harry Truman. Their request was no less than to join the United States, claiming Sicily would provide an effective deterrent to Soviet expansion on the Mediterranean. These initiatives also had some support among the numerous Sicilian emigrants in the USA.
It appears the U.S. actually had a contingency plan which would have involved the annexation of Sicily had communists won the elections in mainland Italy (which indeed almost happened). However, infighting among the Movement’s ranks and the central government’s granting of further concessions to Sicily resulted in its demise. Had the proposal been accepted, Sicily would have become the 49th U.S. state, preceding Alaska and Hawaii.
Today it would be a conservative state.
Well that would have been weird.
RE: Today it would be a conservative state.
It would have been better had the Separatists campaigned to be an INDEPENEDENT COUNTRY.
Some Sicilians says, “I’m Sicilian, not Italian,” but not all. A chef I met recently definitely didn’t feel that way.
When my sons were in Rome, the tour guide - a Roman, had little good to say about us, declaring that we Sicilians are of a different race. She wasn’t completely wrong. ;-)
Italy has been successful in erasing much of the cultural difference among its varied geo g raphicareas. I have Sicilian American relatives who have found it difficult to communicate when they visited Sicily. They spoke the traditional Sicilian dialect of their grandparents while the natives, except for the seniors spoke Roman Italian.
Let’s just get a ferry service going until we can build a bridge.
Did she give the speech that Dennis Hopper made in “True Romance” ?
=running away=
“Today it would be a conservative state.”
As now part of Italy, it’s only conservative until their Socialized Medicine, and extremely costly pension programs.
Add to that, Italy’s high Abortion Rate.
Not all that conservative.
If the annexation had happened, Michael Corleone could not have hidden in Sicily after the veal, and he would have never met Apollonia.
Sicily would have at least been less alien than Hawaii, which should never have been admitted as a state. The downside to annexing Sicily would have been perpetual involvement in the affairs of Europe and the Mediterranean Basin.
ROTFLMAO!!!
Crudely done, but not wholly inaccurate.
Sicily is a place where traditions are respected and what we call "conservative values" are very much in effect; Family, God, Country.
Respect for elders is strong, the churches are well attended on Sundays and holidays, street crime, except for in a few areas in Palermo, is virtually non-existent. I'm not exaggerating when I say that a five year old child could wander the streets in any village here and be safe at any hour.
Here's a personal story that pretty much sums things up: A few years ago, my wife's crazy daughter was visiting and had a date with a young Sicilian man here. On the date she apparently got pretty liquored up. A few hours later, my bell rang - it was her date and his friends, who had walked her drunk ass home like gentlemen. No one took advantage of her. I can't say it would have ended that way if this had happened in most places in the 'States.
Sicilians love freedom - they deal with the corrupt Italian bureaucracy by quietly getting around it any way they can. And they are immensely creative when it comes to ignoring or subverting unjust rules and unjust laws.
Leftist agendas here? Crazy bullshit like transgender story hour, 267 genders, BLM and the like? No freakin' way - anyone who dared push crap like that would get a serious talking to and then run out of town.
Yes, Sicilians floated that idea sometime ago. They would surely be better off under Washington than they are under Rome. And we would get a great Mediterranean vacation spot!
Sicily voted Communist if I recall correctly after the war. Italy was that close to going Communist in the 40s.
Most Romans consider Sicily more African than Italian.
LOL! One of the greatest scenes ever committed to film.
Growing up, many of my neighbors were from Sicily. Beautiful people.
“In Sicily, women are more dangerous than shotguns.”
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