With the outbreak of the First World War, the Imperial Russian 4th Army was formed, after which Saltza was appointed commander-in-chief of the army. During the early stages of the Battle of Galicia, his troops along with General Ivanov was defeated at Kraśnik in their own Russian soil. After this failure, Saltza was replaced by General Aleksei Evert. Later in which he returned to his old post as the commander-in-chief of the Kazan Military District and became a member of Alexander Committee on the wounded. In early November 1914, he was appointed the commandant of the Peter and Paul Fortress, there in early December, he was awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. Among other of his decorations, he was awarded the Order of St. Anna of the 1st degree in 1904, the Order of St. Vladimir of the 2nd degree in 1906 and the White Eagle in early December 1911. General Saltz died on 9 March 1916 in Petrograd, but the location of his remains remained unknown.