View source for Yusa:Russavia/Polandball

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[[File:Polandball.PNG|thumb|200px|User-generated representation of Polandball.]]
'''Polandball''', also known as '''countryball''', is a [[user-generated]] [[internet meme]] which originated on the /int/ board of German imageboard Krautchan.net in the latter half of 2009. The meme is manifested in a large number of [[online comics]], where [[country|countries]] are presented as spherical [[persona]]s that interact in often [[broken English]], poking fun at national [[stereotypes]] and [[international relations]]. The comics style may be referred to both as Polandball (even in case there is no Poland among the cartoon characters) and countryball (or, collectively, countryballs).

==Background==
Polandball has its roots in an August 2009 'cyberwar' between Polish Internet users and the rest of the world on drawball.com. The website, which offers a virtual canvas, allows Internet users to draw whatever they want, and to draw over others' drawings. On the [[Internet in Poland|Polish Internet]], an idea was raised to draw the [[Flag of Poland|Polish flag]] on the ball, and thousands of Poles together managed to take over the drawball with a painting of white on top of red, with the word "[[Poland|POLSKA]]" written in the middle. After co-ordination from [[4chan]], this was then covered over by a giant [[Nazi swastika|swastika]].<ref name="gazeta">{{cite news|url=http://wyborcza.pl/1,86116,7462232,Wyniosle_lol_zaborcow__czyli_Polandball.html|title=Wyniosłe lol zaborców, czyli Polandball|last=Orliński|first=Wojciech|authorlink=Wojciech Orliński|date=16 January 2010|publisher=[[Gazeta Wyborcza]]|language=Polish|accessdate=25 March 2012}}</ref><ref name="cooltura">{{cite news|url=http://www.elondyn.co.uk/newsy,wpis,7731|title=Znowu lecą z nami w... kulki|last=Zapałowski|first=Radosław|date=15 February 2010|publisher=[[Cooltura]]|language=Polish|accessdate=22 March 2012}}</ref>

Krautchan.net is a German-language [[imageboard]] whose /INT/ board is frequented by English-speaking [[netizen]]s. The beginning of the Polandball meme is credited to ''Falco'', a Brit on /INT/, who in September 2009 created the meme using [[MS Paint]] in an apolitical way to [[troll (internet)|troll]] ''Wojak'', a Pole on the same board who contributes in [[wikt:broken English|broken English]], after which Polandball cartoons were enthusiastically drawn by [[Russians]].<ref name="gazeta" /><ref name="przeglad">{{cite news|url=http://www.przeglad-tygodnik.pl/pl/artykul/fenomem|title=Fenomem - Polska nie umieć kosmos|last=Kapiszewski|first=Kuba|date=13/2010|publisher=[[Przegląd]]|language=Polish|accessdate=26 March 2012}}</ref><ref name="KYM">{{cite web|url=http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/polandball|title=Polandball|publisher=[[Knowyourmeme]]|accessdate=26
March 2012}}</ref>

==Themes==
The premise of Polandball, which gained in popularity in the wake of the [[2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash|crash in Smolensk]] which killed [[Polish President]] [[Lech Kaczyński]], is it represents Poland and its [[history of Poland|history]], [[Foreign relations of Poland|relations with other countries]], and [[stereotype]]s,<ref name="przeglad" /><ref name="hiro">{{cite news|url=http://hiro.pl/magazyn/magazyn_zjawiska/memy.html|title=MEMY. Legendy Internetu|last=Cegielski|first=Tomek|date=12 April
2011|publisher=Hiro.pl|language=Polish|accessdate=24 March 2012}}</ref> focussing on Polish [[megalomania]] and [[Complex (psychology)|national complexes]].<ref name="cooltura" /> Interactions between countryballs tend to be written in broken English and [[internet slang]], reminiscent of the [[Lolcat]] meme, and by the end of the cartoon Poland, which is purposely represented as red on top of white (the reverse of the Polish flag), is typically seen weeping.<ref name="gazeta" /><ref name="cooltura" />

Some Polandball comics arise from the premise that Russia can fly into space, whilst Poland can not. One of the most popular Polandball cartoons begins with the premise that Earth is going to be struck by a giant meteor, leading to all countries with [[space technology]] leaving Earth and going into [[orbit]] around the planet. At the end of the cartoon, Poland, still on earth, is crying, and in broken English pronounces the canonical Polandball catchphrase "Poland cannot into space".<ref name="przeglad" /> In this [[Polish joke|humorous way]], Russians put a halt to all discussion with Poles on which country is superior.<ref name="gazeta"/><ref name="przeglad" /><ref name="hiro" /> In another Polandball comic which delves into historic-political [[satire]], Poland is seen to be boring other countryballs, with its proclamation of "So when we crushed Russia and the turks [sic] were were the biggest country in the world... and..", leading other countryballs to laugh at it. Poland, by now irritated, utters [[:wikt:kurwa|''kurwa'']], and holds up a sign saying "Internet serious business", which is an internet slogan used to deride others who treat subjects with disdain, and in Polandball convention, finishes by crying.<ref name="gazeta" /><ref name="cooltura" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/66ROeMOIC|title=Polandball cartoon|date=Unknown|publisher=Unknown|accessdate=26 March 2012}}</ref>

==Other countryballs==
[[File:Britball.png|thumb|right|upright|A user-generated representation of Britain in Polandball-style]]
Polandball can also include comics on other countries, but by convention these comics are usually still referred to as Polandball,<ref name="gazeta" /> although they can also be called countryballs.<ref name="KYM" /> According to [[Lurkmore.to]], [[Bavaria]] has its own ball, and other balls have been created for [[U.S. states]], [[Catalonia]] and [[Siberia]], amongst others. [[Singapore]] takes the form of a triangle and is called Tringapore; [[Israel]] takes the form of a [[hypercube]] (in reference to [[Jewish physics]]); [[Kazakhstan]] takes the form of a brick; and [[United Kingdom|Britain]] is shown wearing a [[top hat]] and [[monocle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lurkmore.to/index.php?title=Int&oldid=1561834#Polandball|title=Int|date=26 December 2011|publisher=[[Lurkmore.to]]|language=Russian|accessdate=27 March 2012}}</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

== External links ==
{{commonscat|Polandball}}
* [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/polandball Polandball at Knowyourmeme.com]
* [http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?167916-Polandball-anyone Polandball at militaryphotos.net]

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