// Spoiler warning for anyone who hasn't watched the season premiere of Enterprise.
Introduction
I was watching the season premiere of Enterprise on the weekend. The season starts with Enterprise arriving back at Earth, but at the wrong point in time. They've travelled back in time to the 1940s during the height of World War 2, except the timeline has changed.
In this timeline, Lenin was assassinated in the early 1900's which prevented the rise of communism in Russia. Therefore, there is no Soviet Russia in this timeline. The implication is, Germany isn't drawn into a two-front war and doesn't need to attack Russia. In this situation, Hitler is able to concentrate on taking over The West.
At the start of the war, France falls and so does Britain (which doesn't happen in
our timeline). Soon after, the Nazis are able to launch an invasion on the American homeland, and is able to take the northeast, principally New York and the capital.
Anyways, the story revolves around Captain Archer getting help from insurgents in New York which consists of both civilians and members of the Mafia. The insurgency tries to sabotage and disrupt Nazi plans as much as possible.
This story line was really fascinating to me as I read a lot about war history. I know that the Americans were trying to crack down on organized crime in the decades prior to the war, but here we have two enemies working together against a common enemy, the Nazis.
The Facts
I did a little research about Mafia involvement in World War 2, and it's interesting to find that the U.S. Navy formed a secret alliance with the Mafia. (Yes, this is in our timeline now, this is not fiction.) I found this
article and this
article which was very informative.
The article talks about the U.S. Navy using the Mafia to safeguard their ports in New York. America was the lifeline to the Allied forces in Europe, a lot of war materials were shipped to Europe through the eastern ports of America. The Allies were concerned about Nazi agents sabotaging shipping in the ports of New York, so the Allies got the Mafia to help protect the ports. The Mafia had many eyes, ears, and muscles working at the ports already, so this made a lot of sense.
Another interesting thing was that the Mafia controlled the supply of seafood in New York. They were able to use their fishing boats to spot German submarines and relay the enemy positions back to Allied forces.
The Mafia also had many ties to the Mafia in Italy. During fascist rule in Italy, the secret police were cracking down on the mob, so the Nazis were no friends of organized crime. The Mafia in America was able to convince their Italian counterparts to aid the Allies when the invasion came. The mob in Italy was able to convince many to support the Allied cause. This gave the Allies an easier time when they liberated Italy, as they could rely on support from much of the populace.
Summary
In either case, this was interesting to me as I've never heard about the Mafia supporting the Allies. In all my history classes and various readings, this is the first time I've come across this.
I guess the old saying stands true, "my enemy's enemy is my friend." In desperate times, this was especially true.
Anyways, this is an awesome start to another season of Enterprise. If you're interested,
Enterprise is on at 8pm PST, channel 14 (UPN), on Fridays and Saturdays.
