On 14 July 1914, the annual summer cruise to Norway began. The threat of war during the July Crisis caused Kaiser Wilhelm II to end the cruise early, after only two weeks; and by the end of July the fleet was back in port. "Deutschland" reached Kiel on the 29th, and moved to Wilhelmshaven on 1 August. With the outbreak of war, "Deutschland" and the rest of II Squadron was tasked with coastal defense at the mouth of the Elbe. This duty was interrupted from 2 to 23 October, when the ship returned to Wilhelmshaven, and from 27 October to 4 November, for an overhaul in Kiel. On 10 November, she took part in a sweep into the Baltic toward Bornholm, which concluded uneventfully two days later. By 17 November, the ship was again stationed off the coast near the Elbe. While her sisters covered the raid on the English coast on 15–16 December, "Deutschland" remained on picket duty at the mouth of the Elbe.