Which is not a reason why the cold war started? a. the u. s. initiated a policy of attacking communism in the soviet union. b. americans feared the growing power of the soviet union and worried that communism might spread. c. both sides began stockpiling nuclear weapons. d. western democracies could not remain allied with oppressive, totalitarian, communist governments.

The item in your list that is NOT true as a reason behind the Cold War:

Historical context:

The term Cold War refers to the heightened tension that existed for almost 50 years between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Some of the deeper issues that set the USA and the USSR at odds were that the USA was committed to capitalism and democratic institutions of government, whereas the USSR was committed to communism and imposed authoritarian government.  The Cold War was mostly a tension between these worldviews.There were also immediate conflicts and pressure points as the Cold War began. One of those issues was that the USA had atomic weapons and the USSR did not.  (The US would not share that technology with the Soviets, who had been their ally in World War II.)  When the Soviets developed their own atomic weaponry, this led to a massive arms race between the superpowers.

although world war i began in 1914, the united states did not join the war until 1917. the additional firepower, resources, and soldiers of the u.s. to tip the balance of the war in favor of the allies. remaining neutral. when war broke out in 1914, the united states had a policy of neutrality.