The 37th Infantry Division began World War I on the Eastern Front. It participated in the battles of Tannenberg and 1st Masurian Lakes. In 1915, it saw action in the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive. The division was transferred to the Western Front in December 1916. It occupied the trenchlines in 1917, and in 1918 participated in the German spring offensive, seeing action in the Third Battle of the Aisne. In the subsequent Allied counteroffensives, the division fought in the Meuse-Argonne. Allied intelligence rated the division a first class shock division.