Maffia

Maffia (Maffie or Mafie in Czech) was a secret organization acting during the Great War. It was founded after emigration of Thomas Masaryk in 1914 by Czech politician Edvard Beneš, who later became second president of Czechoslovakia, and others main anti-royalist (Karel Kramář, Alois Rašín, Josef Scheiner and Přemysl Šámal). Maffia was based on the principles of Sicilian mafia (name "Maffia"), it was central part of the First Czechoslovak Resistance and its main objective was to overthrow the Emperor of Austria and the disintegration of his country. Maffia plot against Austria-Hungary and Central Powers was revealed by police in 1915, some members of Maffia (Karel Kramář, Alois Rašín, Vincent Červinka and Josef Zamazal) were arrested and sentenced to death (they were later amnestied by emperor Charles I.) and Edvard Beneš escaped from Austria-Hungary to Switzerland, but subversive activities of Maffia continued, under the leadership of Přemysl Šámal, until the end of the First World War. Maffia had over 200 members and it was supported from aboard (US, Italy etc.).

Mafia

A mafia is a type of organized crime syndicate whose primary activities are protection racketeering, the arbitration of disputes between criminals, and the organizing and oversight of illegal agreements and transactions. Secondary activities may be practiced such as gambling, loan sharking, drug-trafficking, and fraud.

The term was originally applied to the Sicilian Mafia, but has since expanded to encompass other organizations of similar methods and purpose, e.g., "the Russian Mafia" or "the Japanese Mafia". The term is applied informally by the press and public; the criminal organizations themselves have their own terms (e.g., the original Sicilian and Italian-American Mafia call themselves Cosa Nostra, the Mexican Mafia calls itself La Eme, the Japanese Mafia Yakuza, the Chinese Mafia Triad and the Russian Mafia Bratva).

When used alone and without any qualifier, "Mafia" or "the Mafia" typically refers to either the Sicilian Mafia or the Italian-American Mafia, and sometimes Italian organized crime in general.