Benito Mussolini was the inventor of fascism . . . fascism was a reaction to the communist upheaval which rocked Italy during the years after World War 1 . . . Apart from that it was an attempt to re-establish Italy after the disappointing outcome of World War 1 for her . . she had lost all her colonial possessions . .
Mussolini who started out as a socialist took the ideas of socialism ( even looked at the Soviet Union ) and more or less developed his own form of 'socialism' , calling it 'fascism' . . What fascism and socialism had in common was that it was a one-party state . .
What separtated fascism and socialism though was that in contrast to Soviet 'socialism' ( Bolshevism ) not 'revolutionary' ideas were held up but actually conservative ones . . Soviet Bolshevism was all about abolition of the family for example . .
So one might call Italian fascism a counterrevolution . .
Italy, like many other European nations, were close to witness a Communist/Bolshevik revolution as had happened in Russia . .
It is often underestimated that a huge Communist upheaval swept throughout Europe in the time after World War 1 . .
The three main dissidents were Hitler , Mussolini and Franco . .
Italy also wanted , apart from doing away with Communism , resurrect herself . .
The fascists went their own way , tried to re-conquer colonies and ruled Italy more or less based on military , Church and conservative values . .
Italian fascists adopted the symbolism of the late Roman Empire . . .
The word 'fascism' derives from 'fasces' , an instrument used in old Rome to spread discipline . .
Apart from that they had the Roman salute . .
It should be noted that , had the Bolsheviks succeeded in also communizing Italy that might have been quite a strategic victory for them . . . .
The Roman Catholic Church is resident in Italy so if they had taken Rome that might have been a strategic victory . . The Bolsheviks also sought to un-christianize Europe . .
So , all in all , it was a strategic victory that Italy succeeded with its counterrevolution . .
Apart from the fact that the National Socialists of Germany took over many things from Italian fascism ( though National Socialism and fascism is not the same . . .) .
It should also be noted that Mussolini outlawed Freemasonry in Italy and that he did not allow his people to listen to Jazz . .
Mussolini , more or less , tried to reestablish the Roman Empire . . He did not succeed though . .