Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - A farkon Yaƙin Duniya na Farko, Witzleben ya yi aiki a matsayin mataimakin brigade a cikin 19th Reserve Infantry Brigade kafin a ci gaba da shi zuwa Hauptmann da shugaban kamfani a cikin Reserve Infantry Regiment No.6 a watan Oktoba 1914. Daga baya, a cikin wannan rundunar, ya zama kwamandan bataliya. Ƙungiyarsa ta yi yaƙi a Verdun, Champagne
yankin da Flanders, a tsakanin sauran wurare. Ya ji rauni sosai kuma an ba shi lambar yabo ta Iron Cross, duka na farko da na biyu. Bayan haka, an tura shi zuwa horar da Janar Janar kuma ya shaida ƙarshen yaƙin a matsayin Babban Jami'in Janar na 121st Division.