The turning point in Wärqenäh's ambassadorship to Great Britain and in Ethiopia's relationship with Italy came in July 1936. The League of Nations lifted sanctions on Italy, refused to give Ethiopia a loan and the Spanish Civil War began, shifting world attention from Ethiopia to Spain. Ethiopia's global prominence in the newspaper headlines declined significantly and Wärqenäh increasingly lost favor in the emperor's eyes. Wärqenäh still struggled mightily to put Ethiopia's case forward as strongly as he could, but blow after blow hurt her cause on all fronts. The tide only began to turn when Italy declared war on Britain in 1940 and the emperor was transformed from a liability into an asset for the British and their empire. However, by then the emperor and Wärqenäh had become distant and Wärqenäh soon thereafter retired in exile to India. He still defended the Ethiopian cause, putting heart and soul into the effort, but his lifelong belief in the League of Nations and that Britain would in the end do right by Ethiopia had been shaken to the core.

On June 11, 1936 General Graziani replaced Badoglio as the second viceroy of Ethiopia and at the end of June the emperor gave his famous speech at the Assembly of the League of Nations, accusing Italy of using poison gas and illegal means of warfare, attacking the states who had allowed force to win over law and appealing to the small nations of the world and especially Europe who were about to be overwhelmed by the fascist powers.