With Austria's defeat in the Austro-Prussian War, the northern German states quickly unified into the North German Confederation, with Prussia's King leading the state.
After Bavaria's entry into the Empire, Ludwig II became increasingly detached from Bavaria's political affairs and spent vast amounts of money on personal projects, such as the construction of a number of fairytale castles and palaces, the most famous being the Wagnerian-style Castle Neuschwanstein.