在晋冀鲁豫边区建立政权，是中国共产党在一定区域内掌权执政的重要实践。晋冀鲁豫边区政府成立后，进行了包括党的建设、军队建设和政权建设等在内的一系列基本建设，为边区开展优抚工作创造了条件。在残酷的战争环境中，充足的兵源供给、物质资源的有效补充以及民众的大力支持，都离不开军人及其家属待遇的提高。解决不好这个问题，会直接影响到军民团结和拥军支前的良好局面，甚至影响到战略全局的成败。鉴于优抚工作能够有效解除军人的后顾之忧，增进军民团结，进而提升部队战斗力，晋冀鲁豫边区党委和政府高度重视此项工作，针对现役军人、烈士、荣退军人、军属等制定了较为系统的优抚政策法规，明确规定了现役军人、革命烈士、荣退军人及军属等优抚对象的权利和义务，使优抚工作逐步规范化、法律化。以期对现役军人及其家属进行优待，对烈士进行抚恤和褒扬，对荣退军人进行抚恤和优待。

晋冀鲁豫边区优抚工作的发展历程深受同时期中共中央的优抚政策影响，较好地贯彻执行了中共中央关于优抚工作的相关指示与要求。边区优抚政策的制定与实施过程，较为强烈地体现了军政民的利益互动关系，其间难免会遇到一些困难和问题。对普通民众来说，整体负担较为沉重是其消极对待甚至排斥优抚工作的主要原因。当民众负担本来已经较重时，再让他们为优抚工作付出物质或劳力，加上一些错误观念影响和敌对分子的挑唆，往往会引起部分民众不满，这也是边区开展优抚工作面临的最大困难。同时，一些优抚干部自身思想认识不高，能力水平有限，很难对时局作出准确认识与判断，难以调动民众参与优抚工作的积极性。此外，由于受生产力发展水平和战时局限性，边区的优抚工作在管理方面还存在优抚制度设计不够完善、开展优抚工作不够平衡、不注意优抚工作方式方法、忽视调查研究造成浪费等缺点和不足，直接影响了边区优抚工作的效率和科学化水平。

晋冀鲁豫边区党和政府无疑在解决优抚工作困难和问题中扮演了主要角色。经过多方面发展边区优抚事业，不断加强宣传力度，使优抚思想的种子深深扎根于民众心中，基本实现了各方面力量积极参与、支持优抚工作。与此同时，通过不断调整优化政策，不断改进工作方式方法，使边区优抚工作运行机制不断完善。由此，边区优抚工作取得显著成效：有力地保障和改善了革命军人及其家属的生活，解除了部队的后顾之忧；加强了军政军民团结，形成良好拥军爱民局面；保证了军需物质供应和兵源供给；部队战斗力得到提升，使边区不断发展壮大。

晋冀鲁豫边区的优抚政策与实践虽然具有鲜明的时代特征，并且受生产力发展水平等因素制约，与现代社会优抚体系差距明显，但对其研究可以反映新民主主义革命时期中国共产党优抚思想的发展脉络，有助于总结历史经验：必须围绕党的中心任务开展优抚工作；开展优抚工作必须取得人民群众的支持；开展优抚工作必须重视思想政治教育；在优抚工作中必须加强调研与检查。同时，研究这一问题对于推进新时代优抚工作开展以及促进社会和谐稳定具有较强借鉴意义：加强宣传教育，提高社会各界对优抚工作的认知度；加快优抚立法工作，不断优化优抚工作体制机制；充分发挥优抚工作维护社会稳定的功能；继续发扬优抚工作的良好作风。

The regime building in Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan border region is an important practice of the Chinese Communist Party(CPC) to take power and rule in a certain area. After the establishment of the government of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan border region, a lot of basic works, such as party building, army building and regime building, were carried out, creating conditions for preferential care work. In the brutal war environment, the improvement of the treatment of soldiers and their families was indispensable to adequate supply of soldiers, effective replenishment of material resources and strong support from the public. Failure to solve this problem would directly affect the unity between the army and the people and the good situation of supporting the army and frontline troops and even would undermine the overall strategic situation. In view of the fact that the preferential care work could effectively relieve the worries of the soldiers, enhance the unity between the army and the people, and thus enhance the combat effectiveness of the troops, the party committee and the government of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan border region attached great importance to this work. Systematic policies and regulations on preferential care work for the active servicemen, martyrs, veterans, and their families were formulated, which clearly stipulated the rights and obligations of these people. Such policies and regulations on the preferential treatment for active servicemen and their families, pensions and honors for martyrs, together with subsidies and preferential treatment for veterans, made the preferential care work gradually standardized and legalized.

The development of the preferential care work in the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan border region was deeply influenced by the preferential care policies of the CPC Central Committee during the same period, and the relevant instructions and requirements of the CPC Central Committee on preferential care work were well implemented. The formulation and implementation of these preferential care policies strongly reflected the interaction among the interests of the military, the government, and the people, in the process of which some difficulties and problems were inevitable. For the common people, the heavy burden was the main reason for their negative attitude toward and even rejection of the preferential care work. When the people's burden had been already heavy, it would cause some people's dissatisfaction when they were asked to offer more materials or labors for the preferential care work. The situation was worse coupled with some wrong ideas and the instigation of hostile enemies. This was the biggest difficulty faced by the border region to carry out the preferential care work. At the same time, some cadres of the preferential care work with wrong awareness and limited ability were difficult to make accurate understanding and judgment of the current situation, and to mobilize the enthusiasm of the people to participate in the preferential care work. In addition, due to the low level of development of productive forces and the limitations of wartime preferential care work itself, the preferential care work in the border region still suffered from shortcomings and deficiencies such as institutional dysfunction, unbalanced work, wrong methods, and waste of money caused by the lack of research, which directly affected the efficiency and scientific level of preferential care work in the border region.

There was no doubt that the party and government of the border region played a major role in solving these problems. Through the development of the border region’s preferential care cause in various aspects and the continuous strengthening of publicity efforts, the seeds of the idea of preferential care had deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Various forces had basically actively participated in and supported the preferential care work. At the same time, by continuously adjusting and optimizing of preferential care polices, and continuously improving the methods of preferential care work, the operating mechanism of preferential care work in border region had been continuously improved. As a result, the preferential care work in border region had achieved significant results: First, it effectively guaranteed and improved the lives of revolutionary soldiers and their families and relieved the troops of their worries. Second, it strengthened unity between the army and the government, as well as unity between the army and the people, forming a sound situation of supporting the army and cherishing the people. The third was to ensure the supply of military supplies and troops; Fourth, the combat effectiveness of the armed forces had been improved, enabling the border regions to grow stronger.

Since the preferential care policies and practices in Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan border region had distinct characteristics of the times and were restricted by the low development level of productive forces and other factors, there is a significant gap between these policies and practices and those of the preferential care system in modern society. However, the study on it can reflect the development of the preferential care thoughts of the CPC in the period of new democratic revolution, and help to sum up some historical experience: First, the preferential care work must be carried out according to the central tasks of the Party; Second, to carry out the preferential care work, we must obtain the support of the people; Thirdly, we must pay attention to ideological and political education in the development of preferential care work; Fourth, we must strengthen research and inspection in the preferential care work. At the same time, the study on this issue has a strong reference significance for promoting the development of preferential care work in the new era and promoting social harmony and stability: First, we should strengthen the publicity and education, and improve the awareness of all sectors of society to preferential care work; Second, we should speed up the legislative work on the preferential care work, and constantly optimize the working system and mechanism of preferential care work; Third, the maintenance of social stability should be placed in a prominent position in the preferential care work; Fourth, we should continue to carry forward the good style of preferential care work.