(SEAN GALLUP/Getty Images) Neuschwanstein Castle, built by Bavaria's "Mad King Ludwig," is among the region's biggest tourist attractions and major landmarks. The lands that make up modern Germany weren't united until the late 19th century. Today, keeping them together requires a federal system that grants the country's diverse states a measure of autonomy with the intention of preventing some -- such as the wealthy Bavaria, which has flirted with the idea of independence before -- from trying to strike out on their own. (General Photographic Agency/Getty Images) Kaiser Wilhelm II (L), the emperor of Germany and king of Prussia, sits in a field during military maneuvers with Gen. Helmuth von Moltke, circa 1914. In 1907, Russia, France and the United Kingdom formed an alliance that collectively could have destroyed Germany.