Pollsters asked French citizens who contributed the most to the defeat of the Nazis in World War II. The poll was conducted in 1945, then repeated in 1994 and 2004. As you can see in a graphic from Olivier Berruyer, the results changed over time. Of course, most of the people polled in 1994 and 2004 were not around during the war, and what they know was learned in classrooms and movie theaters. The movies aren’t necessarily wrong, but the Hollywood film industry tells stories they know, that are available in a language the industry speaks.
In another graph at the same post, Berruyer shows us that 11 million soldiers of the Soviet Union died in the war, and as least as many civilians, making the USSR the country with the highest casualties of all. China was second, as Chinese civilians bore the brunt of Japanese atrocities. The United States lost 184,000 soldiers in the European theater, and 407,000 when you include the Pacific theater.
The effectiveness of the USSR in defeating the Nazis is colored by the utter brutality of the Stalinist regime, and clouded by the secrecy of Soviet isolation over the ensuing 50 years. However, the sheer numbers have a tale to tell, and we haven’t been telling it as well as we could. The post at Les-Crises has more graphics on World War II, which are all in French but pretty easy to understand. -via reddit
(Image credit: Olivier Berruyer)
During the war a lot of resistance movements were communists (from strikes to armed resistance). Those acts of heroism gave them credibility and power. The General de Gaulle took them in the government; Some ideals (social security, official mandatory unions...) were put into place in 1945 (we're still depending on those). At this time, communism was representing progress, and around 25% of the vote.
Then when people got security they lacked (ie became less feisty), and saw the horrors of communism, they drifted towards the Socialist party (its left side has strong socialistic views) and the votes plummeted down, especially after 1989 (and McGiver reruns :) )
So in a way, yes, the Soviet, via the Komintern, influenced the organisation of the society we're living in today.