ABSTRACT
Unlike some other regions the countries of southern and eastern Europe did not have real grass-roots movements for change in 1830. Prior to the July Days there was no effective opposition inside the Turkish and Habsburg domains, nor yet in the Two Sicilies. In Portugal the majority of the population would happily have allowed the continuance of fierce reaction, while in Spain the development of a large-scale liberal movement came later in the decade. As a result, the impact of the revolutions of 1830 was largely a matter of external and diplomatic pressures. As the abortive invasions of Spain show, the relatively weak regimes of the peripheries were able to cope with such pressures without undue difficulty. In the absence of supporting internal forces, such pressures produced very little change. Even in Portugal, where the July Days brought a sudden accretion of support and sympathy for the liberal cause, a long and painful process was required before Don Miguel could be ousted. The experience of the southern and eastern countries of Europe therefore throws into relief the special conditions of the heartland which enabled change to go so much farther.
