The Sheffield Gang Wars is an umbrella term used to describe a large period between the 19th and 20th centuries in which the

City of Sheffield The City of Sheffield is a metropolitan borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in South Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Sheffield, the town of Stocksbridge and the larger ...

saw a rise in criminal gang activity. The notoriety of some gangs led to the formation of the 'Special Duties Squad' by Percy Sillitoe. Other UK cities have historically had more widespread violence, mostly concentrated in dense urban areas such as London,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and more notorious criminal gangs such as the Peaky Blinders of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

also exist, but the sheer brutality of Sheffield's gangs earned the city the nickname 'Little Chicago', in reference to gang culture within Chicago in the United States during the same period.

References

{{Reflist History of Sheffield Crime in Sheffield Gangs in England Organised crime conflicts in the United Kingdom