It used to be I guess a slur, "surrender monkeys," because France surrendered during WWII and there was a Nazi-collaborator government established filled with French politicians.

It's unfair given the reality and importance of the French resistance, but, that's where it comes from.

That one was the brits if I'm not mistaken - Jeremy Clarkson specifically (who I have a lot of affection for - Top Gear was a significant part of my childhood, but he does make an art out of being offensively wrong).

It seems to have originated in The Simpsons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese-eating_surrender_monkey...