Benito Mussolini intended to name the Italian Social Republic the "Italian Socialist Republic"

After the National Socialists freed Benito Mussolini from imprisonment at La Maddalena, at the Hotel Campo Imperatore in Gran Sasso during Operation Oak, they brought him to northern Italy, where he was to preside over a satellite regime of the Third Reich. There, he attempted to implement socialism through the socialization of the economy. Mussolini debated with Adolf Hitler about what this puppet state would be called. Hitler wanted Mussolini to name it the Italian Fascist Republic, while Mussolini preferred to call it the Italian Socialist Republic. They reached an impasse until both Hitler and Mussolini agreed to name it simply the Italian Social Republic. Even so, the term socialism returned to the fascist lexicon.
Alessandro Pavolini, Secretary-General of the Republican Fascist Party, spoke at the Congress of Verona on November 14, 1943:
“In social matters, it is clear that fascist socialism cannot be Marxist socialism—that is, the kind of socialism that recognizes only manual labor and demagogically neglects technical and intellectual labor, which, from a purely human point of view, is as necessary and indispensable as the former, and from the perspective of corporate hierarchy, even superior—not in terms of social origin, but as an extrinsic and individual contribution to collective labor.
Our socialism cannot be of the communist, Russian type, in the sense that it goes against our spirit to consider an absurd total nationalization of all economic activities—even craftsmanship, rural work, and professional services—as practiced in Russia. Ours must be a syndicalist socialism which nonetheless takes a decisive step toward social justice, without denying any of the achievements already made in social progress during the twenty years of the fascist regime.
As for that private property which, as I’ve said before, is a projection of the human personality and which we seek to guarantee and protect—the property arising from individual labor and individual savings—it is clear that the core of such healthy property is the house, a possession that everyone should have.”
Benito Mussolini addressed the officers of the Aldo Resega Black Brigade in Gargnano on October 14, 1944:
“Some still ask us: What do you want? We answer with three words that summarize our entire program. Here they are: Italy, Republic, Socialization. (...)
Socialization is nothing more than the implementation of a feasible, Italian, human form of socialism—distinctly our own; and I say our own, because it constitutes the only viable foundation for the economy, rejecting artificial mechanisms that do not exist in nature and are impossible in history.”
Nicola Bombacci spoke to the Blackshirts in Piazza De Ferrari in Genoa on March 15, 1945:
“Socialism will not be achieved by Stalin, but by Mussolini, who is a socialist—although for twenty years he was hindered by the bourgeoisie, which later betrayed him. But now Mussolini has rid himself of all traitors and needs the workers to create the new proletarian state.”
REFERENCES:
A. James Gregor, The Ideology of Fascism: The Rationale of Totalitarianism, New York: NY, The Free Press, 1969, p. 307. Erik Norling, Fascismo Revolucionário, Lisboa, Contra Corrente, 2013. Arrigo Petacco, Il comunista in camicia nera: Nicola Bombacci, tra Lenin e Mussolini, 1996.