The 223rd Reserve Infantry Regiment was raised in the Prussian Province of Hesse-Nassau, with one battalion each from the former Electorate of Hesse, Duchy of Nassau, and city of Frankfurt am Main.

The 48th Reserve Division initially fought on the Western Front, entering the line in October between the Meuse and Moselle.

The division remained in positional warfare and various engagements on the Eastern Front thereafter, and faced part of the Brusilov Offensive in 1916.

In May 1917, the division returned to the Western Front, and occupied the line near Verdun, facing the French offensive there in August and September.

The division was in the trenches in Lorraine from the end of September to the beginning of December 1917, and then in Upper Alsace until mid-February 1918.