We never wanted them to not recover. Hell, the entire point of the RP was that the US wasn't involved in the war and it ended differently, we didn't actually mean for Europe to be weak. Like, if I knew in the beginning where it would got and what part I would play, I probably would have picked a European nation to cover the bases. 

The impression that they never recovered is incidental, caused by the fact we never got much in the way of consistent European posters. What we have to make up for now is the absence of these European powers in the RP so far. It is difficult for somebody to join and say France was always important, when they have had nothing to do with anything that has happened in the RP so far. 

[quote]
Communists appeared in Europe only after the Russian Revolution, so I have no idea how things shaped out in PoW. In France, the Communist Party seceded from the SFIO (Socialist Party) in 1920. Without the Russian Revolution, it would probably have taken longer.[/quote]

This is not quite true. There had been a hard-line communist faction in most European countries since Marx, but it had always been in competition with the Social Democrats. All the Russian Revolution did was give the Communists a unified leadership in Europe, which did more harm than good in the end. Moscow's orders often contradicted the political realities of Europe, so the Communist parties were stuck between disobeying Moscow and losing international support, or hamstringing themselves and losing political maneuverability. 

In Precipice, Moscow never takes control of the Communist movement in Europe, so they remain more competitive.