The construction of the original Gotthard Rail Tunnel in the Swiss Alps began, relying heavily on dynamite blasting under intense heat and high-pressure water conditions. Thousands of Italian immigrant laborers worked in hazardous, crowded underground spaces where dynamite fumes mixed with horse manure and dust, leading to massive outbreaks of disease and accidental detonations. The project stood as a testament to the immense human cost of explosive-driven continental infrastructure.

The immense suffering of the Gotthard tunnel workers sparked an influx of social-realist poetry and protest literature across Europe. Swiss and Italian poets wrote verses condemning the capitalist acceleration that literally chewed through human bodies using dynamite.