Nickname for Napoleon III. He was made President of the French Republic December 11, 1848; made his coup d'état December 2, 1851; and was made Emperor December 2, 1852.
(E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898)
The term/criticism was invented by Victor Hugo in the poem Châtiments published in 1853. This criticism was then overtaken by the “Man of Sedan”.
Napoleon III was the subject of a number of nicknames, including, “Badinguet”, “Boustrapa”, “Man of December, “Man of Sedan”, “Man of Silence”, “Rantipole”, and “Verhuel”.