Syrtsov was a delegate to the 10th Congress of the RKP(b) in March 1921 and participated along with other delegates to the gathering in crushing the Kronstadt Rebellion. His having been placed in the position of crushing the revolt of radical sailors at Kronstadt in the name of the proletarian revolution moved Syrtsov in a more moderate direction economically, and he became an early and vocal supporter of the New Economic Policy (NEP) advanced by Lenin over radical opposition from within Bolshevik ranks.