Most of us here at one time or another have agreed that Vito's pledge at the Commission meeting that he would not be the first to "break the peace" was not binding on Michael. I have two questions:
1. Did Barzini "break the peace" first by horning in on Tessio's territory (as he complained in the fishtank scene)?
2. Would Michael have mounted the Great Massacre of 1955 if Vito were still alive?
Your thoughts on both?
There never really was "peace," because Barzini never stopped coming after the Corleone family, and the fishtank scene is good evidence of that.
Michael would have gone through with the Great Massacre if Vito had lived. The two of them were planning it when they sent Tom Hagen to Vegas .."You're not a wartime consigliere....things could get rough with the move we're trying."
