User blog comment:Azecreth/Azecreth's idea blog/@comment-4206034-20110916220655/@comment-1634809-20110918190654

Well, not necessary. It lessens the chance of Hitler rising to power, as one of the reasons he received backing from western businessmen was their fear of a communist takeover of Germany. Without a major communist power present, that fear is lessened. It also lessens the chance of Mussolini rising to power in Italy, since that was one of the main reasons he took over. So overall, it's more likely that some sort of socialist state could rise in Germany, and that democracy would be preserved in Italy.