It usually works and they come out of the bankruptcy level again. The game on the other hand is scripted to make the other powers (the AI) try and bounce back from by cost cutting. When YOU the player gets completely bankrupt, the game is over. And I noticed in my games that crash to desktop, it occurs when I INTENTIONALLY keep a nation bankrupt for more than about 10 turns. Sweden often freezes because it turns out they are one of the more economies prone to bankruptcy. One of the most common crashes occurs as a result of the game creators themselves programming in poor economy self management.
I don't INTEND to crash the game,but then again the creators never intended for some of the scenarios I set up. I've noticed in my (recorded 1000+ hours) of empire total war there are ways to avoid crashing the game and ways to make it happen.
