The Communist Party in Germany took a serious beating from the SD-headed government immediately following WW I. They were a relatively minor factor in the troub

The Communist Party in Germany took a serious beating from the SD-headed government immediately following WW I. They were a relatively minor factor in the troubles of the 1920s and 1930s. While everyone was quite rightly concerned about the influence of the Soviet Union, its sphere of influence was extremely limited until the end of WW II. It lost a great deal of population, but so far from being contained by WW II, it moved its control as far west as the Elbe. You are of course correct that the French and Italian Communist parties had no real prospects of successful insurrection with American troops stationed there.