From 1911 to 1913, he commanded the Second Army Corps. Sent into reserve in 1913, he was recalled to active duty upon Romania's entry into World War I, commanding the Second Army during the Battle of Transylvania, from August 25 to September 25, 1916. Then, from 1916 to 1917, Crăiniceanu was inspector general of the army. His son, Lieutenant colonel , was allegedly recruited by the German secret service while he was the Romanian military attaché in Vienna (1914–1916) and was executed for treason in April 1917 after he had attempted desertion to the Germans, as part of a plot masterminded by Colonel , the son of the former prime minister Dimitrie Sturdza.