History Main / Ruritania

* ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'' has the Republic of Borginia, which is vaguely eastern European and has what are probably Gypsies and its language, Borginian, is written in dingbat characters.

* ''YoungFrankenstein'' says outright, in the song "Transylvania Mania," "Whether you're in Ruritania, or a dance hall in Albania."

* CarlBarks's and DonRosa's ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse have Brutopia, an obvious name-changed version of the USSR.

Poldavia was also cited as the "birth place" of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbaki Nicolas Bourbaki]].

* Slaka from the British series ''The Gravy Train Goes East'' is a [[CommieLand post-communist version]] of this, and is PlayedForLaughs. Appropriately enough, the series was filmed in 1991, shortly after the HoleInFlaf revolutions.

* ''Apollo Justice: AceAttorney'' has the Republic of Borginia, which is vaguely eastern European and has what are probably Gypsies and its language, Borginian, is written in dingbat characters.\\
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In ''Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth'' there is Cohdopia, an European nation that was split into two smaller countries (Babahl and Allebahst) as well. As well as as the republic of Zheng Fa.

* ''BobAndRay'' - the "funnies in the news" announcer Peter Gorey (Bob, using a Lorre accent: "Een other news, only vun man vas keeled attempting suicide today...") hailed from Lower Schizophrenia.

->''"I feel sorry for those Eastern European countries at the Olympics, 'cause they've got rotten national anthems, eh? Here comes Belarus!... Stupid national anthem... Look at this flag! Two bears, fighting over a pineapple. We don't have pineapple in Belarus, where do they get it from?! 'Come to UsefulNotes/{{Belarus}}! Where wild animals will steal your fruit!'"''

* ''AustinPowers'' features a nuclear warhead being stolen from the country "Kreplachistan."

The name comes from Anthony Hope's 1894 novel ''The Prisoner of Zenda'', and the concept originated around the same time; the idea itself was at least in part "inspired" by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was viewed by many Europeans as an incompetent backwater. It spurred an entire genre, the Ruritanian Romance (which is derived from ChivalricRomance, not the love story meaning of Romance). At that time and in most early 20th century depictions, Ruritania had a royal house (of which the King [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething actually did something]], the Prince [[TheWhitePrince was dashing]], the Princess [[PrincessClassic was a dazzling beauty]], and the [[NiceHat headgear]] was quite frankly ridiculous), which was forever being schemed against by a lot of [[EvilChancellor dastardly usurpers]] or [[TerroristsWithoutACause anarchists]] and was a source of enormous tension among the Great Powers. [[WorldWarOne That last bit was actually true, unfortunately]]. A good example is, of course, the original. Although it is worth noting that where most examples of this trope are set in the Balkans or Eastern Europe, the original was wedged between Germany and Bohemia and had a Germanic-style culture.

* JeanPaulSartre's ''Dirty Hands'' (''Les Mains Sales'') is set in a fictional European country called Illyria during WorldWarTwo. It is supposed to be an ally of NaziGermany, on the verge of being annexed to the [[HistoryOfTheUSSR Eastern Bloc]].

* In the ''AceCombat'' series, the nation of "Belka" is the bad guy country and starts the ''Belkan'' War. Half the countries in Ace Combat follow this pattern -- Yuktobania, Usea, Estovakia, etc.
* ''ChromeHounds's'' fictional nation, ''The Republic of Morskoj''. Its history labels it as a former Soviet satellite that gained its independence when the Soviet Union collapsed, though they remain strong allies with Russia. Of course, they live in the coldest region of the fictional continent the game is set in. Olyena Guba seems to be the remnants of {{Ruritania}} past. And it is normally a Morskoj territory.

* A real-life counterpart of Ruritania could be some of the East European unrecognized micro-nations such as Transnistria (officially part of Moldova) or Abkazhia (officially part of Georgia): They have their own governement, money and so on. Still, they don't appear on any official diplomatic map. Or also territories that claim nation status at some point or another (and thus, become the center of the world's attention when civil wars break there). Some have since become independent (eg. Kosovo), others failed to do so (eg. Chechnya).

* ''RepublicTheRevolution'' is set in [[MeaningfulName Novistrana]], a post-Communist {{Ruritania}} complete with lots of concrete and people SpeakingSimlish with a distinctly Slavic cadence.

* Both the [[Film/TheMerryWidow1925 1925 version]] and the [[Film/TheMerryWidow1934 1934 version]] are set in fictional tiny Eastern European principalities, Monteblanco in 1925 and Marshovia in 1934, countries tiny enough that one widow taking her fortune abroad is SeriousBusiness. See Theatre below for the original opera.

* ''Film/{{Civilization}}'' is a 1916 anti-war film set in the nation of Wredpryd, which is obviously (spiked helmets, upturned mustaches, submarine warfare), supposed to be Germnay.

With the coming of HoleInFlag revolutions, Ruritania has pretty much reverted to what it started with: ludicrous hair, ethnic strife, poverty, and backwardness. The monarchy is (usually) gone, replaced by a [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny mock democracy]] run by some [[GeneralRipper unsavoury generals]]; the Great Powers are now acting through NATO or the UN. Everyone still seems to hate his neighbours, the anarchists may still be around, or they may have mutated into [[TerroristsWithoutACause terrorists]] or plain old gangsters. With any luck, contemporary Ruritania might be a part of the EU, causing more trouble for its finances than Greece, Spain and Ireland taken together.

* In the introduction to one episode of ''[[CanadasWorstDriver Canada's Worst Driver Ever]]'', host Andrew Younghusband says that he was doing some reading on "the driving practices of the [[Punny Name Volvovian tribe who live in Southern Truckcaristan]].''

* A real-life counterpart of Ruritania could be some of the East European unrecognized micro-nations such as Transnistria (officially part of Moldova) or Abkazhia (officially part of Georgia): They have their own governement, money and so on. Still, they don't appear on any official diplomatic map. Or also territories that claim nation status status at some point or another (and thus, become the center of the world's attention when civil wars break there). Some have since become independent (eg. Kosovo), others failed to do so (eg. Chechnya).

* The 1937 movie musical ''Rosalie'' has the kingdom of Romanza. Its map, which is visible at one point, clearly shows that it is Romania with one letter changed. This is appropriate, as the Broadway musical the movie was adapted from, produced by Ziegfeld a decade earlier, had been RippedFromTheHeadlines of Queen Marie of Romania's visit to the United States.

* Carpania from ''The Great Race'' is a pre-WWI Ruritania with a goofy but harmless Crown Prince in charge. He's naturally being schemed against by [[EvilChancellor his subordinates]], causing a SuccessionCrisis.

* The MarxBrothers movie ''DuckSoup'' (1933) has Freedonia, land of the brave and free! In a clear cut case of Western Imperialism, the wealthy Mrs. Teasdale insists running dog Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) be appointed President in return for half her husband's fortune to avoid an impending liberation by neighboring Sylvania. (It's not clear whether this is the same Sylvania portrayed in the 1929 film ''The Love Parade'', in which Maurice Chevalier plays a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob who becomes prince consort to Sylvania's Queen Louise.)

* In Steven Spielberg's ''TheTerminal'', [[Creator/TomHanks Victor Navorski]] comes from the fictional East European country of Krakozhia. Though the Krakozhian language is actually Bulgarian.

* Tomania in ''TheGreatDictator'', which is a very thinly disguised NaziGermany.

* ''Film/TheStudentPrinceInOldHeidelberg'' is set in an obviously Germanic little kingdom calld "Karlsberg" around the beginning of the 20th century.

* A real-life counterpart of Ruritania could be some of the East European unrecognized micro-nations such as Transnistria (officially part of Moldova) or Abkazhia (officially part of Georgia): They have their own governement, money and so on... Still, they don't appear on any official diplomatic map.
** Or also territories that claim nation status status at some point or another (and thus, become the center of the world's attention when civil wars break there). Some have since become independent (eg. Kosovo), others failed to do so (eg. Chechnya).

** Or also territories that claim nation status status at some point or another (and thus, become the center of the world's attention when civil wars break there). Some have since become independent (eg. Kosovo), others are yet to do so (eg. Chechnya).

* ''Film/TheGrandBudapestHotel'' is set in 'the former Republic' of Zubrowka between the World Wars. With its location near the Alps and mix of German, Hungarian and Slavic elements Zubrowka is clearly an ex-part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (possibly the stand in for Austria itself - it is described as once the seat of an empire.)

* In the ''AceCombat'' series, the nation of "Belka" is the bad guy country and starts the ''Belkan'' War. The name seems somewhat familiar. Half the countries in Ace Combat follow this pattern -- Yuktobania, Usea, Estovakia, etc.
** Of course it [[MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs familiar.]] and of course someone else saw the similarities and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wba6XWbpT-k ran with it.]]