Early on in the war he served on the staff of General Viktor Dankl von Krasnik during the Battle of Galicia, later serving on the Italian Front in 1915 as commander of XX Corps. In the summer of 1916, Waldstätten briefly served as the chief of staff for the 12th Army as well as Army Group Archduke Karl, commanded by the future emperor of Austria-Hungary, but was replaced by German officer Hans von Seeckt after a month.