Nothing forcible about it, for the record. Goths et al were Christian before they even approached Rome, having already been converted by emissaries of early popes. The deal then was simple--convert the leader, king, or whoever was in charge, and everyone else followed.
Forced conversions were forced conversions. That’s the way it was done back then.
You wrote:
“Nothing forcible about it, for the record. Goths et al were Christian before they even approached Rome, having already been converted by emissaries of early popes.”
No, they were Arians. The Ostrogoths were still Arians when they occupied Rome. The Visigoths were Arians for centuries after they settled in Western Europe.
“The deal then was simple—convert the leader, king, or whoever was in charge, and everyone else followed.”
True enough.
The forcible conversion was only of the Saxons and for a political reason as well — the pagan Saxons were a thorn in the flesh of the Carolingian Frankish dynasty. Two folks of the same religion could be allies but not a Christian and a pagan — hence the Christians Slavs in Bohemia supported the Franks (germanics) against the germanic saxons. Also, the Christian Poles joined with the pagan Lithuanians only if the Lithuanians became Christian.