De Standaard

De Standaard (meaning The Standard in English) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and Flemish Party, and in opposition to the Socialist Flemish daily De Morgen. In recent years De Standaard has renounced its original ideological ties. In 1911, Frans Van Cauwelaert founded Ons Volk Ontwaakt, the weekly journal of the Flemish Catholic student organization. In 1914, Van Cauwelaert, Alfons Van de Perre, and Arnold Hendrix formed a publishing company, De Standaard N.V. ("The Standard, Incorporated": the Standard Group). Their goal was to publish a conservative, Catholic, Flemish daily newspaper in Brussels, to be called De Standaard. The motto of De Standaard was Alles voor Vlaanderen - Vlaanderen voor Kristus ("Everything for Flanders - Flanders for Christ"), abbreviated AVV-VVK. AVV-VVK appeared in De Standaard's front-page banner until 1999. The first edition was to appear on 22 November 1914, but publication was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I. De Standaard did not appear until 4 December 1918, after the war ended. Gustave Sap, who joined the board of directors in 1919, provided the necessary capital for its initial expansion. The paper was started as a conservative daily with Catholic values. In 1940, during the Second World War, Belgium was occupied by Nazi Germany. De Standaard again ceased publication. However, a new paper, Het Algemeen Nieuws ("The General News") was published with De Standaard's staff and presses, printing only what the Nazi occupation government permitted. After the liberation of Belgium in 1944, the management of Standard Group was accused of collaboration with the Nazi occupiers, and the company was banned for two years. A new company was therefore created: De Gids N.V. ("The Guide, Inc."), which began publishing De Nieuwe Standaard ("The New Standard") in November 1944. Older titles of the Standaard group were also continued by De Gids.