1927年7月第一次國共分裂之後，包括賀龍在內的許多中共黨員返回他們位於湘顎西地區的家鄉，試圖發動農民暴動。在1928年-1930年間，這些返鄉黨員在湘顎西地區建立了兩堆主要的根據地，一塊是洪湖蘇區，另一塊則是位於賀龍家鄉湖南桑植縣周圍的湘顎邊根據地。1930年7月，這兩塊根據地合併成湘顎西蘇區，並由賀龍擔任該蘇區的最高軍事領導。湘顎西蘇區最初以洪湖地區為中心，中共擬以此為根據，向外發展。然而，在經歷一連串軍事的失敗後，蘇區內部陷入嚴重的紛爭。最後，湘顎西蘇區最高黨領導夏曦決定發動內部整肅。殘酷及毀滅性的整肅以及國軍的圍剿迫使中共不得不於1932年9月放棄洪湖蘇區逃往湘顎邊邊蘇區，並最終於1933年底被國軍完全驅離出湘顎西地區。本文試圖探究湘顎西蘇區的發展與內部整肅的根源及其過程，以及湘顎西蘇區與其他蘇區的不同之處。

After the split between the KMP and CCP in July 1927, Communist activists including He Long tended to go back to their native places in western Hubei and Hunan to stir up the peasants. From 1928 to 1930, they set up two major base area in western Hubei and Hunan. One was the Hong Lake Soviet: the other was the Hubei-Hunan Border Soviet around He Lung’s hometown Sangzhi County, Hunan Province. In July 1930, these two soviets merged into Xiangexi Soviet with He Lung as its superior military commander. The CCP tried to have a permanent soviet area around Hong Lake and then to expand from it outwardly. However, after a series of fiascos, the Xiangexi Soviet was caught in severely prolonged inner conflict. Subsequently, the superior party leader of the Xiangexi Soviet, Xia Xi, decided to start interior purges. These cruel and decimating purges and the annihilation campaign against the Xiangexi Soviet by the Nationalist Army finally led to the retreat of the Red Army from the Hong Lake Soviet to Hubei-Hunan Border Soviet in September 1932. Moreover, the Red Army was expelled completely from the western Hubei-Hunan border area by the Nationalist Army in the end of 1933. This article is going to examine the cause and process of the development and interior purges of Xiangexi Soviet, and reveal the difference between the Xiangexi Soviet and other Soviets.