The Five Families Mob War

The Five Families Mob War was a major conflict between France's Five Families.

Prelude
The war began after the murder of Virgil Sollozzo and police officer Mark McCluskey by Michael Corleone. Sollozzo had previously made two attempts on the life of Vito Corleone, both unsuccessful. However, it left the family hungry for revenge. After the murder of Sollozzo and McCluskey, the France Police Department sent out the word that there would be no more gambling, prostitution and deals of any kind until the murderer of Capitan McCluskey was caught. Massive raids began all over the city. All unlawful business activities came to a standstill. An emissary from the other families asked the Corleone family if they were prepared to give up the murderer, but they were told that the affair did not concern them.

Events
The war between the Corleone family and the other families combined against them proved to be expensive for both sides. It was complicated by the police pressure put on everybody to solve the murder of Mark McCluskey.

As soon as the war started, the Tattaglia, Barzini, Stracci and Cuneo families went straight to the mattresses, hiding out in various venues. Immediately, the Corleone family began to experience difficulties, not only because they were outnumbered, but because their assets were out in the open (shylocks and bookmakers); in contrast, the other families' assets were hidden the docks and behind numerous fronts. A bomb exploded in the Corleone family mall in Long Beach, thrown from a car that pulled up to the chain. Two button men of the Corleone family were also killed as they peaceably ate their dinner in a small Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village.

A few weeks after McCluskey's death, newspapers began running stories involving him with Sollozzo. They published proof that McCluskey had received large sums of money in cash, shortly before his death. These stories were based on information supplied by Tom Hagen. The Police Department refused to confirm or deny these stories, but they were taking effect. The police force got the word that McCluskey had been on the take from Sollozzo for several years. When it became known that McCluskey had been killed while in the company of a notorious heroin pusher and that he was suspected of involvement in an attempt on the life of Don Corleone, the police desire for vengeance faded and some semblance of social order was restored.

In the late summer of 1948, Sonny Corleone was lured into a trap and was killed at the Jones Beach Causeway by Barzini family hitmen. The hit was engineered by Emilio Barzini after Tony, angered at the loss of his income, helped set it up. Shortly afterward, Barzini got word that Michael was hiding in his father's hometown of Corleone, Sicily. He bought off one of Michael's bodyguards there, Fabrizio, who planted a bomb in Michael's car. Instead, the bomb killed Michael's first wife, Apollonia.

Sonny's death sent shock waves through the underworld. When it became known that Vito Corleone had risen from his sick bed to retake command of his family, the heads of the rival families made frantic efforts to prepare a defense against the bloody retaliatory war that was thought to follow. But to their surprise the recovering Don Vito called a hasty peace at a sitdown, and the war was seen to be over.