It ranked tenth among the German states and had one vote in the Bundesrat and three members in the Reichstag.

Hitherto his country had been ruled in the spirit of enlightened despotism which had been strengthened by the absence of a privileged class of nobles, the comparative independence of the peasantry, and the importance of the towns; thus a certain amount of friction was inevitable.

Important alterations were made in the administrative system in 1855 and again in 1868, and government oversight on church affairs was ordered by a law of 1863.

In 1863, Peter II, who had ruled since the death of his father Augustus in 1853, seemed inclined to press a claim to the vacant Duchy of Schleswig and Duchy of Holstein, but ultimately in 1867 he abandoned this in favor of the Kingdom of Prussia and received some slight compensation.

In 1866 he had sided with Prussia against the Austrian Empire during the Seven Weeks War and joined the North German Confederation.